U.S. House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joseph Crowley thinks it’s “sexist” to criticize House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Crowley was giving his take on the undecided special election for a Pittsburgh-area House seat when he claimed efforts by Republicans to link Democrat Conor Lamb to Pelosi’s San Francisco values failed.

Lamb currently leads Republican state Rep. Rick Saccone by 641 votes in a race with more than 1,000 absentee votes yet to be counted, though Lamb has already declared victory.

Lamb “particularly distanced himself from leader Pelosi, so is that some kind of a model for other Democrats?”  one reporter asked Crowley at a news conference.

“This election was not about Nancy Pelosi. Conor Lamb really localized the issue,” Crowley, who is rumored to be Pelosi’s successor as Democratic leader, said. “The attempt here to nationalize it by the Republicans – I think they need to get a new game book. The attempts to use Nancy Pelosi, it’s failing them at this point.

“And I think, quite frankly, that it’s sexist,” he said. “And they need to move on from that.”

“Connor effectively localized this election. He spoke to the needs, the passions of the people there. He talked about trade. He talked about social security. He talked about things that are really meaningful to people’s lives in the district and that’s why he was successful,” Crowley insisted.

Crowley’s comments come after Lamb told his supporters in January he’d like to see Democrats replace Pelosi and other leaders like Crowley with people who will actually accomplish something.

“I think it’s clear that this Congress is not working for people,” he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in January.  “I think we need new leadership on both sides.”

Lamb said it’s “not personal,” but people in the district think they’re doing a horrible job.

“It’s more about the fact that I expect leaders to get results, and the result of our Congressional leadership has been to have people in the district dissatisfied with their performance,” he said.

The dissatisfaction undoubtedly stems from Pelosi’s embarrassing public gaffes in recent months, from criticizing $1,000 tax cut bonuses as “crumbs,” to public appearances marred by slurred speech, mispronounced words, facial spasms, brain freezes and other oddities, such as claiming she eats “nails for breakfast,” The American Mirror reports.

There’s also Pelosi’s desire for more gun control, support for groups like Planned Parenthood and illegal immigrant criminals, and other wacky policy ideas like mowing the grass along the southern border as a solution for rampant illegal migration.

The special election to replace former Rep. Tim Murphy in Pennsylvania’s 18th District allegedly featured millions in ad spending by pro-Saccone groups to highlight the similarities between Lamb and Pelosi, according to CNN.

The race is considered a bellwether going into the 2018 midterm elections. Donald Trump won the district by about 20 percentage points over Hillary Clinton in 2016, and Mitt Romney carried the district by 17 points in 2012.

On Wednesday, Lamb held a .28 percent lead over Saccone, the Associated Press reports.

Some believe the race was close in part because Lamb repeatedly, publicly stated he doesn’t support the House’s top Democrat.

“My opponent wants you to believe that be biggest issue in this campaign is Nancy Pelosi. It’s all a big lie,” Lamb said in a television ad addressing the issue shortly before election night. “I’ve already said on the front page of the newspaper that I don’t support Nancy Pelosi. The real issues are the ones that affect your lives.”