Democratic candidate Andrew Gillum has long said he plans to win the governor's race by turning out the party's progressive base in droves — first in the Aug. 28 primary, then the general election.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Tampa Bay Times editorial board Tuesday afternoon, Gillum laid out his view of the governor's race in even more detail. The Tallahassee mayor offered candid assessments of his opponents' campaigns and made a prediction in the GOP gubernatorial contest.

"We still feel like we have the clearest path to victory in this primary," Gillum said to the board. (The Times editorial board, which represents the institutional viewpoint of the paper, is not involved in its news coverage.)

Wednesday morning, on the heels of the interview and another endorsement from a national progressive organization, Gillum's campaign announced it is airing its first television ad of the 2018 cycle, titled, "What's impossible?" Watch it here.

Gillum is the last candidate in either major party primary to begin airing TV ads, and this first ad buy is just $60,000. He's struggled to fundraise — in part, he admitted Tuesday, because of the FBI investigation hanging over his city government.

Read more: What we know — and don't know — about the FBI investigation hanging over Andrew Gillum's campaign

Still, Gillum argued Tuesday that with just a month left until the primary, none of his opponents — former Congresswoman Gwen Graham, Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, South Florida real estate billionaire Jeff Greene and Orlando businessman Chris King — have yet put together a winning coalition of primary voters.

"What the other candidates have to be asking themselves is, after spending all that they have, why would you still have so many undecided voters?" Gillum said. "And, we have intelligence that a lot of the support that does exist that right now shows up in the other camps is very soft support."

Gillum said Tuesday he believes he can win over some of his opponents' voters while keeping his base of black and staunchly progressive supporters. And if the black vote comprises about 30 percent of the primary electorate, as Gillum expects it to, the mayor says he's got a good chance at victory.

That is, if enough black voters can learn that Gillum himself is black.

"It's really interesting when I go into a community where they haven't seen me before because I often get, 'I didn't know you were black,' " Gillum said.

The mayor argued that once his advertisements begin to air, he'll shore up that base.

"That isn't about racism, by the way," Gillum said. "People do want to see themselves reflected. They'll never believe that Gwen Graham, Philip Levine, Chris King or Jeff Greene will be a better representative of their interests than I will be."

Read more: Behind in dollars and polls, Andrew Gillum hopes to boost black turnout in race for governor

Although recent polling has shown Gillum behind Levine and Graham, Gillum noted his strong grassroots support, and said his campaign has a few moves yet to make.

"I think there will be some inflection points over the next month that will help give our race lift," Gillum said.

When pressed for specifics by Times Chairman and CEO Paul Tash, Gillum said we'd have to wait and see.

As for the general election, Gillum predicted the Democratic nominee will face Donald Trump-endorsed Republican Congressman Ron DeSantis, who is surging in his primary against Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam. And once it's general election season, Gillum said, whichever party turns out more of its base will win.

“I don’t think (DeSantis is) going to spend a bit of time trying to convince a resistant voter that he’s their guy,” Gillum said.