When hearing the phrase "rising sex star," most people do not think of a politician.

Gov. John Hickenlooper and Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia of Colorado held a press conference at the state capitol on Wednesday.  In front of a crowd, including about 40 children from Colfax Elementary School in Denver, Hickenlooper introduced his right-hand man, according to the Denver Post.

"Now I get to introduce that rising sex star um…symbol I meant, symbol, not star," Hickenlooper said amid awkward laughter.

He then acknowledged one of the most difficult press conferences "in the history of the office" was about to ensue.

"I didn't mean 'sex symbol'," the Democratic governor told the Denver Post.  "I meant 'rock star,' but I said 'sex star.'  It was a poorly designed effort to pay compliments to Joe."

Hickelooper often refers to Garcia as a "rock star."

"He calls me a rock star a lot," Garcia told the Post.  "I'm really a pretty straight-arrow, boring kind of guy.  I think he just slipped and called me something else."

The press conference was to reveal the state's early childhood literacy plan.