Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s deputy communications director informed him on Friday that she is resigning, sources said, the fourth young adviser who served on his campaign to leave the administration.

Laurie Au, the deputy communications director, was the press secretary for Abercrombie’s campaign. Sources say her decision to leave was based on the resignations of Amy Asselbaye, the chief of staff, Andrew Aoki, the deputy chief of staff, and Josh Levinson, the communications director.

The four helped form the backbone of Abercrombie’s campaign staff and accepted plum policy and communications roles in his administration. Some of the governor’s older allies often referred to the younger and relatively inexperienced staffers as "the kids," but they were more idealistic, and less tied to outside interests, than many of the older voices in the governor’s orbit.

Au, 26, is a former Honolulu Star-Bulletin reporter. Sources say that she, like Levinson, would stay on the job until the governor finds a replacement.

Sources close to the administration continue to insist that Asselbaye and Aoki left on their own, even though many acknowledge there was tension between the younger advisers and some of the older allies who served on the transition team after the election.

Sources say Asselbaye and Aoki decided together that they would leave by the end of the year, enough time to make a full transition from the campaign to the administration.

The governor announced on Thursday that Asselbaye and Aoki had resigned for family reasons and that Bruce Coppa, director of the state Department of Accounting and General Services, would take over as chief of staff.

The sudden exodus has led to concerns by some fellow Democrats that the Abercrombie administration is in internal crisis. Some administration officials, however, believe it was better to have the staff shake-up now than later in the year, when the administration would be intensely preparing for the upcoming legislative session in January.