Eight Republican Senators are openly criticizing Gov. Paul LePage for making what they describe as demeaning comments about members of the public, and they are urging him to take a more civil tone.

The senators have attached their names to OpEd column that will run in The Portland Press Herald and several other Maine newspapers on Monday.

The column states that the senators feel to compelled to express their “discomfort and dismay” with the tone of some of LePage’s remarks.

“Were these isolated incidents, we would bite our collective tongues, because we are all human and make mistakes. But, unfortunately, they are not isolated but frequent. Therefore, we feel we must speak out,” the column states.

The column was written by Sen. Roger Katz of Augusta and Sen. Brian Langley of Ellsworth.  Six other senators added their names to the column. They are Sens. Thomas Saviello of Wilton, Chris Rector of Thomaston, Nichi Farnham of Bangor, Earle McCormick of Gardiner, Roger Sherman of Houlton  and Thomas Martin of Benton.