WASHINGTON - It certainly isn't something that happens every day. Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said Friday that the White House called him for advice.

Conrad said he was contacted by White House Counsel Harriet Miers, who asked for his opinion on a replacement for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. She announced July 1 that she will retire when her successor is confirmed.

Conrad said he told Miers he would support Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for the post if Gonzales is nominated.

Conservatives have criticized the former White House counsel. In 2000, Gonzales, then a Texas Supreme Court judge appointed by Bush, joined the majority in ruling that a 17-year-old girl could seek an abortion without telling her parents.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has said Gonzales has the right credentials for the job but could face a tough confirmation battle. Reid has stopped short of saying he would support Gonzales.

Conrad said he suggested the president nominate a North Dakotan to the high court.

Conrad suggested Judge Kermit Bye, a North Dakota native who sits on the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Bye, a former assistant U.S. attorney for North Dakota, was in private practice in Fargo for more than 30 years.

"He is a someone who has had a broad experience, the kind of person who ought to be nominated to high judicial positions," Conrad said Friday.

Bye's nomination likely would not have the support of conservatives. On Friday, the 8th Circuit appeals panel ruled that a federal "partial-birth" abortion ban, which was signed by President Bush in 2003, is unconstitutional because it makes no exception for the health of the woman involved. Bye wrote the opinion.

The White House would not confirm the conversation with Conrad. Spokeswoman Erin Healy would say only that there have been "staff level discussions taking place.