TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach says he’s still advising Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Kobach told reporters Thursday, “I am in regular communication with the campaign.”

Kobach gained national attention before his election as secretary of state in 2010 for helping local and state officials across the nation write tough laws against illegal immigration. He was Trump’s highest-profile early backer in Kansas.

Trump advocates building a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border and forcing Mexico to pay for it. In a fiery speech Wednesday in Phoenix, the GOP nominee promised to curb even legal immigration. Kobach called the speech “historic.”

Kobach is the state’s top election official. He said it’s “perfectly appropriate” for him to take partisan stances because voters can hold him accountable for how he oversees elections.