San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón announced the resignation of campaign consultant Alex Tourk on Tuesday, just hours after the disgraced lobbyist stepped down from City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s campaign for mayor.
Tourk has been mired in controversy over his lobbying practices for the past week.
He was dinged last week for disclosing that he had lobbied Gascón on behalf of the police officers’ union. Campaign consultants are prohibited by law from lobbying their past and current clients in the office.
“Alex told me that he did not want any alleged wrongdoing against him to be a distraction for the campaign,” Gascón, who is running for a full term as district attorney, said in a statement late Tuesday. “He steadfastly believes he was in compliance with San Francisco’s lobbying and ethics laws and believes he will ultimately be cleared of any alleged wrongdoing. This is a difficult situation for Alex and myself, and I want to thank him for his dedication and service.”
Tourk, a rising star within the local political establishment, has tried to juggle both lobbying and campaign consulting since he started his firm, Ground Floor Public Affairs, after leaving city government in 2007.
