Congressional candidate Steve Krieg of Plattsburgh is being chastised by a fellow Democrat, Assemblywoman Addie A.E. Jenne (D-Theresa), for what she calls “demeaning” comments he made about incumbent Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik of Willsboro.

"You can disagree with her politics and question her motivation, her record and her ties to the 21st Congressional District. But this demeaning name calling - and that is exactly what this is - is unbecoming for someone seeking to serve our region and nation in Congress," Jenne said in a statement emailed to reporters Friday.

Krieg, an optometrist who has joined agroup of several candidates from the 21st Congressional District who hope to unseat Stefanik in next year’s election, gained national attention by referring to Stefanik as a "little girl" in a Facebook post and doubled down on those comments at a Congressional forum this week in Canton.

CNN picked up on the comments in a report Thursday.

"It's ironic and unacceptable a candidate would use these demeaning words to describe a female elected official in the same year we are celebrating the 100th anniversary of a woman's right to vote in New York State," Jenne said.

Krieg raised the issue of his Facebook post when asked to distinguish himself from the other candidates in the field running to represent the North Country in the House of Representatives.

“I have been accused of being a sexist for calling Elise a little girl. And I probably deserve to be called a sexist. I think most of us if we admit it have some of sexist in us, have some of the racist in us. It’s something if we’re decent people we recognize in ourselves and we struggle with it all of our lives,” he is reported to have said.

“But Elise, I recognize her as ... I’m not going to say a little girl. I recognize her as a child. And it has nothing to do with her age. I see her as a child because she’s a child. She thinks like a child. She has people set things up for her, she has people put their words in her mouth and she happily repeats them. And I think recognizing her, I would go after her in that way. And I apologize if that’s mean but that’s how I would do it,” he added.

Jenne said there are a number of significant issues facing the North Country from health care to national security and that needs to be the focus of races for public office.

"I have been disappointed by the political discourse at the national level for the past several months, and I think we need to stand up when candidates inject sexist or racist language into the conversation about a candidate's fitness for office here in the North Country," Jenne said.