New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams seemingly has his work cut out for him in the campaign for governor. 

The last two candidates who sought to run as the progressive alternative to the incumbent governor have hit an apparent ceiling of about 35% of the statewide vote. But Williams believes his campaign is gaining ground this year.

"We've been paying attention to this campaign for a long time," Williams told reporters at the state Democratic Convention in New York City on Thursday. "New Yorkers are now just starting to wake up. We are at the same time beginning to get the momentum in our campaign and the infrastructure coming together."

Williams is challenging Gov. Kathy Hochul in a Democratic primary, a rematch fo sorts from the 2018 race for lieutenant governor. Both Williams and Hochul have changed jobs since then. 

But Williams sees similar issues this year as he did four years ago.  

"The biggest concern has been incumbent protection," he said of the Democratic establishment. "They want to swap their elite for the Republican elite. They've ignored pockets of New Yorkers for a very long time."

Williams is ready to petition his way onto the ballot if necessary should he not receive the necessary 25% of the delegate vote at the Democratic convention. His progressive lane over the years has been applied to and by a variety of Democrats. 

But Williams defines the term differently. 

"The dividing line is people who took the political risk to actually get that done, people who push back on the status quo to get that done," he said.