The race for Milford Treasurer has intensified, while the race for School Committee has disappeared.

Jonathan Bruce on Thursday withdrew his name from the contest for School Committee, and pulled papers to run for town Treasurer instead.

Bruce said in a phone interview he entered his name for School Committee when it became clear to him that committee member Paul Mazzuchelli would not seek re-election, and no one else seemed interested. At the time Bruce pulled the papers, Patrick Holland was seeking re-election to his seat, but no one else had stepped forward for the second open seat on the School Committee.

That changed Monday, when Joseph Morais pulled papers to run for the School Committee.

Bruce, 57, who described Morais as a strong candidate, said the entry made him reconsider where else he could serve the town. Bruce, a former two-term School Committee member, also had 23 years of experience on the Zoning Board of Appeals.

He pulled nomination papers for town Treasurer because he said the sitting treasurer, Barbara Auger, is a finalist for the Town Administrator position.

Her only opponent on the ballot for treasurer is Michael Soares, 26, who Bruce said lacks the professional experience that would prepare him to oversee town finances, "an $80 million enterprise."

While Bruce said he doesn't know if Auger will ultimately be named town administrator, if she is: "I will be sorry I didn't do this."

In response, Soares said Thursday he entered the race for treasurer before he knew Auger was a candidate for town administrator. "I never wanted to win the race by default," he said.

Of Bruce's comments, he said: "He has no idea what I do, what I have done. I don't see my age as a good enough reason not to vote for me. 

The deadline for candidates to pull nomination papers for the April 2 election is 5 p.m. today. Should Milford Town Hall close early, the deadline will be extended to 5 p.m. Monday.