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Conservative Supreme Court candidate Daniel Kelly consulted the Republican Party of Wisconsin in 2020, including during the time when the party was developing plans to create a fake slate of electors after the 2020 presidential election.

MADISON (WKOW) -- In late 2020, Daniel Kelly was working as an attorney, and one of his clients was the Republican Party of Wisconsin (RPW). In November 2020, Joe Biden won the popular vote in Wisconsin. One month later, RPW Chair Andrew Hitt and other Republicans gathered at the state capitol to form a fake slate of electors for President Donald Trump.

The House Select Committee investigating the January 6 insurrection subpoenaed Hitt, and he provided testimony in February 2022.

Hitt told the committee he called Kelly to talk about the fake elector plan.

"We talked for about a half-hour kind of thinking through, thinking through the issues and if, what questions, you know, what other questions do I need to ask and think through," Hitt said.

Kelly has acknowledged that work and defended the interaction during an appearance on WISN's UPFRONT on Sunday.

"Frankly, I was not versed in this area of the law," he said. "It is, the testimony shows I was not in the loop. So, it was just that one conversation, just a general conversation about the subject, and that was it."

However, Kelly's opponent, Janet Protasiewicz, has pushed the issue.

In a debate Tuesday, she called Kelly "a true threat to our democracy."

Howard Schweber, a political science professor at UW-Madison, said he believes Protasiewicz is hoping that message resonates with a specific type of voter.

He said the election is very polarized, so voters who support Protasiewicz likely won't be swayed by the attack.

"Where it does potentially have some traction is among Republican and conservative voters in Wisconsin," he said.

Schweber said, for some of them, the January 6 insurrection and election denialism were a breaking point.

"It's plausible that some number, potentially a significant number, of voters who would have otherwise voted for [Kelly] might change their mind on the grounds that 'well, I'm a conservative, you know, I'm maybe even a Trump supporter, but I don't go as far as this,'" he said.

Schweber said both candidates have run almost entirely negative campaigns, limiting the voters who they reach.

"I think both candidates have decided to abandon any attempt to persuade undecided voters and focus entirely on motivating their base and depressing the other side's base," he said.

Protasiewicz has focused heavily on Kelly's ties to the fake electoral slate. Kelly has focused on Protasiewicz's judicial record and said she is soft on crime.

However, Schweber said the efficacy of those attacks will depend on which narrative voters believe.

"I expect the next two weeks to be just a massive amplification of those messages," he said.

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Expert: Protasiewicz targeting Republican voters with attacks on ... - WKOW