Republican Mayoral "Placeholder" will be We The People's Board of Ed Candidate

The WWII Veteran who city Republicans for their mayoral candidate in July filed paperwork Wednesday to run as We The People party's Board of Education candidate, WTP Vice-Chair Lois Demayo said late Wednesday night.

Bill Godburn, 86, officially became the conservative third party's candidate for the Board of Education just two days after withdrawing his mayoral nomination so that We The People president Walt Micowski could run for the position as a Republican, .

Godburn registered his candidacy on the last day to be listed on the city's ballot, taking the We The People berth initially registered for Jerry Stezewski, who dropped out of the running this month. City Clerk Irene Massé confirmed Godburn's registration Thursday morning.

Demayo said Godburn was dissatisfied with the Republicans' choice in his replacement and, and had begun to take his candidacy seriously before Micowski's announcement, formulating plans for the town. (Patch did not phone Godburn because of the late hour.)

"Just another victim thrown under the bus – for personal gain," said party vice chair Lois Demayo of Godburn, still angry over Micowski's party-switch. The two reportedly exchanged phone calls Tuesday about the race, and Demayo asked Godburn then if he would run on their ticket.

Godburn will now be the fifth candidate in the BOE race in which voters pick four . Had he not entered, the four other candidates would have automatically been elected. He will now run against Robert Kosienski Jr. (R), a 20-year incumbent who was dual endorsed by the Democrats and Republicans, current BOE president Mark Hughes (D), incumbent John Lineen (D), and Pamela Bahre (D), who ran in 2009 for the spot and won, but legally had to give up her seat to Kevin Scarpati (R) because of state rules about minority party representation on Boards of Education.

Godburn was born and raised in Meriden and is well known for being the town's former Chief Fire Marshal for 29 years, as well as an active member of the community.

"He’s worked a lot with children," Demayo said, explaining the rationale for choosing Godburn as a Board of Education candidate.

According to his biography, Godburn coached little league baseball in town for 10 years, was a scoutmaster for 25 years, and was the long-time president of Hanover School's PTA.