AUGUSTA (AP) — The Republican leader of the Maine Senate is calling on his GOP colleagues in the House of Representatives and with the state party to stop making personal attacks against Democrats.

Maine Senate President Mike Thibodeau says he has been discouraged and frustrated by the series of attacks, including a recent petition drive by the party that likens the Legislature to a swamp. The call also referred to Democratic House Speaker Sara Gideon as the “Speaker of the Swamp.”

He says he feels the rhetoric mimics which is used by some conservatives to describe Congress and Washington goes too far and is not accurate.

Thibodeau told the Portland Press Herald (http://bit.ly/2opplHL ) the personal attacks against Democrats do not help build bipartisan goodwill needed to solve pressing issues.

Maine Senate President Michael Thibodeau, R-Winterport