Richard Grenell, who on Tuesday quit the Mitt Romney campaign, will be lending a hand in the campaign to reelect California Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack.

Grenell abruptly resigned from his post as foreign policy spokesman under mounting pressure from social conservatives opposed to an openly gay man working in the Romney campaign.

He said in a statement that his “ability to speak clearly and forcefully on the issues has been greatly diminished by the hyper-partisan discussion of personal issues that sometimes comes from a presidential campaign.”

Chief among his critics was Bryan Fischer of the Christian conservative American Family Association.

Fischer argued that the hire signaled support for gay rights from the Romney campaign.

He tore into Grenell's sexual orientation on his AFA-sponsored radio program, Focal Point, claiming that gay men are about “short-lived relationships and frequent anonymous sexual encounters,” though he added that he wasn't certain whether Grenell, who is in a 10 year relationship, “indulged in that.”

Later, Fischer called on Romney, a Mormon, to condemn gay sex if he wanted the evangelical vote.

“So, Mitt Romney's church teaches this conduct is considered sinful. … Governor Romney do you agree with the teachings of your church?”

Gay GOP group Log Cabin Republicans said Romney had lost a qualified conservative spokesman.

“It is unfortunate that while the Romney campaign made it clear that Grenell being an openly gay man was a non-issue for the governor and his team, the hyper-partisan discussion of issues unrelated to Ric's national security qualifications threatened to compromise his effectiveness on the campaign trail. As a Bush Administration colleague of Ric, I can attest to his experience and qualifications in the national security portfolio. Ric was essentially hounded by the far right and far left,” R. Clarke Cooper, executive director of Log Cabin Republicans, said in a statement.

In a tweet late Tuesday, California Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack said Grenell was returning to California and would help on her campaign.

“Richard Grenell is coming back to his home in Palm Springs & has offered to help with my campaign. That's terrific,” she messaged to her more than 8,200 followers.