Republican candidate Donnelly loses campaign manager

GOP gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly’s campaign manager quit Wednesday, just days before the state Republican Party’s convention.

“I’m proud to have taken a candidate from the launch of a campaign as an unknown, underdog candidate to front-runner status in the polls, as well as having cleared the field of our closest GOP competitor,” Jennifer Kerns said in a statement. “I wish all of the candidates in this race the best as they seek to shine a light on Jerry Brown’s record.”

Kerns’ promotion to campaign manager was heralded earlier this year by Donnelly, a state Assemblyman from San Bernardino County, in an online video announcing the move. It featured footage of her running with a dog, shooting gourds in the desert and smoking a cigar.

“Helping Tim Donnelly become the next governor of California -- it’s freaking awesome,” she said in the video.

Donnelly’s videographer, who also created footage starring actress Maria Conchita Alonso that received widespread media coverage, has left the campaign as well.

Attempts to reach Donnelly were unsuccessful Wednesday.

A source close to the campaign said Kerns left because Donnelly was not heeding her advice and she had grown concerned about the effect of his candidacy on the Republican Party.

Donnelly has been in the news lately for appearing to violate probation by firing borrowed guns at a shooting range during a campaign stop. He was on probation after being caught with a handgun in his briefcase at Ontario Airport in 2012.

The gun was not registered to Donnelly, and he has declined to answer questions about its purchase.

He also posted on Twitter an image that compared President Obama’s gun policies to those of dictators such as Stalin and Hitler.

Kerns’ departure comes as Donnelly and GOP rival Neel Kashkari are headed to the California Republican Party’s gathering in Burlingame this weekend, when they will court party activists and address delegates.

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