Owens, the only Democrat to represent the district in its current configuration, was succeeded in 2014 by incumbent U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik. But in the interview, Owens said he thought Democrat Tedra Cobb was unlikely to win against Stefanik and that he did not expect to campaign for her.

“That may have sounded more negative than I intended,” Owens told the Times on Tuesday. “Yes, I absolutely support [Cobb].”

Owens said he had not been asked to campaign with Cobb yet.

“Of course we will ask the former Democratic Congressman for his help and we would appreciate any contribution of his time and effort as we build momentum to November,” the Cobb campaign said in a statement sent to the Times.

Tedra Cobb (Press-Republican photo)

Owens said it would be hard for Cobb to succeed without focusing on fundraising and staying on the air with advertisements between now and November.

“For anyone running against a strong candidate like Congresswoman Stefanik, you need to focus on raising money,” Owens said.

In response to Owens’ comments, the Cobb campaign said they were pursuing a boots-on-the ground strategy.

“Elise Stefanik will be funded by the D.C. machine and outside interests,” Cobb wrote in a statement emailed to the Times. “But when I ran for Legislator, I beat the incumbent by knocking on all the doors in my district. This race is no different — the financial odds are stacked against us, but with our hundreds of individual donors and thousands of volunteers, we will win in November.”

Owens said that both fundraising and door knocking are necessary.

“I don’t think either one is enough alone,” he said.

Overall, though, Owens said he found Cobb to be a moderate candidate.

“My sense is she is around the middle,” he said — left of center on some issues, right of center on others.

Owens said he thinks of the 21st Congressional District as being made up of Rockefeller Republicans and Reagan Democrats.

Asked about an ad released on Tuesday by Stefanik’s campaign accusing Cobb of raising taxes while in the St. Lawrence County Legislature — the campaign has labeled Cobb “Taxin’ Tedra” — Owens said he thought the characterization was unfair.

“From what I know, I do not think that’s accurate,” he said.

He said he thought Cobb’s position was close to his own, cautious about raising taxes and focused on economic issues in the district.

The Stefanik campaign has also continued to accuse Cobb of lying after a video surfaced of Cobb saying she thought assault weapons should be banned, but could not publicly say that and win the election.

The video was secretly recorded at a “Teens for Tedra” event during the Democratic primary by a 17-year-old named Preston Scagnelli, hired by the National Republican Congressional Committee. Scagnelli used a false name at the event and told others at the event he was not recording.

“Certainly tracking happened when I was in office,” Owens said. “I never experienced someone who misrepresented themselves at a private event, and that I do take objection to.”

Asked about Cobb’s comments on assault weapons, Owens declined to comment. He did say that he supported limiting access to firearms to certain categories of people — those with mental illness, or suspected of terroristic activities, for example — rather than categories of firearms, both policies Cobb has in her platform.

“I think my position is quite sensible,” Owens said.