LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel on Thursday came to the defense of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, telling a Senate panel that the federal judge is “abundantly qualified” to serve on the nation’s highest court.

McDaniel turned into an unlikely ally of Sotomayor, who he’s never met and with whom his only experience was a brief defending her decision as an appellate judge.

McDaniel was one of several witnesses who testified Thursday in favor of President Barack Obama’s pick for the Supreme Court during hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington. McDaniel, a Democrat who has touted his support of gun rights as attorney general, tried to reassure Republican members of the panel that Sotomayor wouldn’t be a threat to gun owners.

“I do not believe the right to keep and bear arms is at risk with this nominee, or frankly I wouldn’t testify for her,” McDaniel told Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.

McDaniel sided with Sotomayor in a discrimination case involving white firefighters in New Haven, Conn. They sued after the city threw out its promotion test because too few minorities passed. Sotomayor, as a member of a panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, ruled against the white firefighters, but the Supreme Court last week reversed that ruling.

A former state representative who is running for re-election, McDaniel is widely believed to be a potential candidate for governor in 2014.

Hal Bass, political science professor at Ouachita Baptist University, said the attorney general’s visit may be an effort to curry favor with national Democrats for a future run for office.

“It’s at least a way to get on the radar screen of national Democrats, particularly in recognition of the fundraising help he could get from them,” Bass said.

Neither of Arkansas’ senators have said they’re voting for Sotomayor, but Sen. Mark Pryor said Thursday he’s leaning toward voting for her confirmation. His fellow Democrat, Sen. Blanche Lincoln, is still undecided, her office said.

Conservatives said McDaniel’s trip to Washington could be targeted as the attorney general seeks another term, noting the lack of a connection the attorney general has with the Supreme Court nominee.

“It’s a stretch to prove what he knows about this nominee that other people don’t,” said Jerry Cox, head of the conservative Arkansas Family Council. “A lot of people are scratching their heads over this.”

McDaniel used money from his re-election campaign to travel to Washington from Destin, Fla., where he was vacationing with his family. He planned to return to Destin on Thursday, and said he didn’t get a chance to meet Sotomayor during his visit.

McDaniel denied speculation that he testified on Sotomayor’s behalf to boost his national profile.

“I didn’t come for politics,” McDaniel told The Associated Press after the hearing. “Frankly, an argument could be made that I’ll have to spend too much time explaining it to justify any political gain out of it. ... I got to play a small role in the confirmation of a Supreme Court justice, and that’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”