He’s praised a key GOP ally’s efforts to help Republicans overturn Gov. Christine Gregoire’s election.

But on Wednesday, Attorney General Rob McKenna said he stopped by the courtroom to support his office’s defense of the state’s administration of the election.

His appearance drew fire from Democrats, who questioned his objectivity and accused him of playing both sides.

“He’s supporting the entity that’s suing him and it is totally inappropriate for someone who is defending the secretary of state’s office,” said State Democratic Party Chairman Paul Berendt.

But McKenna, in Wenatchee primarily to speak to a meeting of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, said his praise of the Building Industry Association of Washington didn’t constitute a conflict of interest.

The association, a prominent player in Republican politics, gathered much of the evidence of illegal felon voting that’s a key part of the Republican lawsuit.

McKenna’s office is representing the secretary of state, the primary defendant in the suit.

When McKenna, a Republican, gave the keynote speech to a meeting of the association this winter, he praised its efforts in finding felon votes, according an item in the group’s March newsletter.

“BIAW isn’t intimidated. BIAW doesn’t wilt under pressure. … That’s why the left fears BIAW,” the newsletter quotes McKenna as saying.

At the end of his speech, he “encouraged the association to keep up the battle,” according to the item.

On Wednesday, he said the BIAW should be commended for bringing evidence to the case.

But, he said, “my team is the secretary of state.”

Kenneth P. Vogel, The News Tribune