Colorado Republican gubernatorial candidate George Brauchler will be going without a campaign manager until next year, his campaign spokesman told Colorado Politics Wednesday.

Veteran GOP consultant Ryan Lynch, who had been managing Brauchler’s campaign since its launch at the beginning of April, left the campaign this week for unspecified opportunities, and the campaign doesn’t plan to replace him before the end of the year.

“We have a very strong and experienced leadership team, and we will fill the campaign manager spot in 2018,” Brauchler spokesman Jack Cutter said, pointing to the campaign’s advisory team, including some of the state’s leading political operatives.

The campaign shake-up comes at the same time as former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo’s long-anticipated entry into the crowded Republican gubernatorial primary. Cutter said the two events aren’t related.

Nine Republicans and seven Democrats are running for the office held by term-limited Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper. Other Republicans in the primary include State Treasurer Walker Stapleton, businessman and former state lawmaker Victor Mitchell, former investment banker Doug Robinson, who’s also Mitt Romney’s nephew. Attorney General Cynthia Coffman has said she’s considering a run for governor but hasn’t announced her plans yet.

Brauchler, the 18th Judicial District attorney and a colonel in the Colorado Army National Guard, had high praise for Lynch in a statement released Wednesday morning.

“Ryan Lynch has been a central part of my gubernatorial launch,” Brauchler said. “He’s helped us rack-up several straw poll victories and build a massive statewide grassroots infrastructure that will be critical to our success in 2018. While we are sad to see him pursue other endeavors, we wish him nothing but the best.”

Lynch, a former executive director of the state Republican Party, said the Brauchler campaign was on a strong footing.

“As I depart the Brauchler campaign to pursue other exciting opportunities, I am very proud of the substantial grassroots organization that my staff and I have assembled throughout the last six months,” Lynch said. “From a highly successful campaign launch to the development of a significant ground operation to a series of recent straw poll victories, we have accomplished a lot in a short amount of time. I wish George Brauchler nothing but the best with this and all future endeavors.”

Brauchler has won several nonbinding straw polls conducted by Republican and conservative groups since the summer.

In the fundraising quarter that ended Sept. 30, Brauchler raised $98,846, down from $183,398 he reported raising in the previous quarter, his first in the race.