Gov. Ned Lamont may have snagged the Democratic Party endorsement this weekend, but he’s not the nominee yet.

Progressive Josh Elliott is promising to bring a bare-knuckles fight directly to voters after winning enough support to force an August primary.

It’s a battle that is playing out among Democrats across the nation in this pivotal mid-term election cycle.

A defiant Lamont quoted Bob Marley moments after Democrats endorsed him for a rare third term.

“Get up, stand up! Don’t give up the fight!” Lamont told a cheering crowd at Hartford’s Bushnell Theatre.

But not everyone was cheering.

A quarter of the roughly 2,000 delegates backed Elliott, a progressive state representative from Hamden. That means Democratic voters will decide whether Lamont or Elliott gets the crucial Democratic party line on the November ballot.

On Monday, Elliott said he has no plans to back down. He claimed that the fiscally moderate Lamont hasn’t done enough to help the working class.

“He, of course, is working for his wealthy country club friends,” Elliott said. “It’s OK. He's a nice guy, buy his perspective is that it's okay if the middle class suffers.”

Lamont, a multimillionaire from Greenwich, has fought efforts to raise taxes on the wealthy, arguing that Connecticut “needs more taxpayers, not more taxes.”

Elliott wants to fund a middle-class tax cut with a new 4% tax on the wealthy.

“Am I going to raise taxes? You know it. On who? On people making a million dollars or more,” he said. “And what that mean is, everybody else will get to see a tax reduction.”

It’s the first time a sitting governor has faced a challenge from within his own party in nearly 50 years.

“The Democrats are the ‘big tent’ party, and in Connecticut we’ve been doing a phenomenal job of expanding that tent,” state party chair Roberto Alves said. “That tent isn’t expanding to just the left, or just the right, or up and down. It is a tent.”

Lamont insisted that he has passed more legislation to save families money than any governor in modern times.

He raised Connecticut's minimum wage, created Paid Family Medical Leave (funded with a payroll deduction from employees’ salaries) and cut income taxes for the first time in decades, albeit by a modest amount.

Lamont also launched a new Universal Preschool program, adding an extra $300 million to it this year. In the coming years, childcare for 3- and 4-year-olds will be free for families earning less than $100,000 a year. Parents making below $150,000 won’t pay more than $20 a day.

“You want to give me lectures about affordability? If you’re a young family, that can save you, $10,000, $20,000 a year,” Lamont told delegates.

The governor also argued that he has the experience to fight the Trump administration, which has targeted Connecticut with federal cuts and lawsuits over what the White House considers “sanctuary policies.”

“Working families are getting screwed, middle class is getting hammered,” the governor said. ”Donald Trump doesn’t give a damn. He’s busy lining his pockets with crypto gold.”

But electric rates and property taxes remain high – something both Elliott and Republican gubernatorial nominee Ryan Fazio are hammering Lamont on.

“After eight years, Gov. Lamont says that he needs just four more,” Fazio said. “Four more to do what, exactly?”

Elliott isn't worried that a bruising Democratic primary will hurt Lamont’s chances in November.

“Am I hobbling the governor? It’s an irrelevant question because I’m going to win in August,” Elliott said. “Hopefully what will happen is that the governor will get on board with my message as well, so we can be running with the same message.”

Even if Lamont wins the Aug. 11 primary, Elliott could appear on the November ballot as a third-party candidate.

Besides the governor’s race, the rest of the statewide ticket is now set.

Lt. Gov. Susan Byciewicz will face Republican Matt Corey, who has unsuccessfully run for Congress five times.

For secretary of the state, Norwalk’s Stephanie Thomas is facing a challenge from another perennial candidate, Republican Peter Lumaj of Fairfield.

For the attorney general, it’s incumbent William Tong, a Democrat from Stamford, versus Westport attorney John Bolton.

Former Westport First Selectwoman Jenn Tooker wants to unseat Democratic Comptroller Sean Scanlon.

Finally, Democratic Treasurer Erick Russell will defend his seat against Fred Wilms, a banker and former state rep from Norwalk.