Four candidates are vying for the one available judge's seat in the Circuit Court for Harford County in the Feb. 12 primary. To win the 15-year term on the bench in District 3, the candidate must garner the most votes in both the Democratic and Republican primaries.
If that does not occur, the two leading candidates in both primaries will run in the November general election.
"It is unique to the state," said James E. Massey, director of Harford's Board of Elections. "All the judge candidates file in both primaries and are not identified by party on the ballot. They have to be chosen by both parties."
Three challengers are running against sitting Judge Angela M. Eaves, a former District Court judge whom the governor appointed to the Circuit Court in December. She is the first woman and the first African-American to sit on the bench in the county.
"I went through the process by interviewing with the local and state bar associations and also interviewing with the judicial nominating commission," Eaves said. "I've been fully vetted."
The Harford County Democratic Central Committee has endorsed Eaves. County Executive David R. Craig wrote a letter in October urging the governor to appoint Eaves to the Circuit Court after she was nominated by the judicial nominating commission. Craig, a Republican, said judgeships are not a partisan matter and he is not endorsing anyone in this race.
Throughout Harford's history, a sitting judge has rarely been defeated at the polls. Massey recalled the 1966 judicial race as the most contested in memory. It was close, he said, but the governor's appointee prevailed.
"In every race, the governor's appointee has won, but at least, I am giving Harford voters a choice," said candidate Steven J. Scheinin, an Aberdeen attorney. "Luckily, I have a livelihood."
Typically, turnout in a primary is low, about 20 percent, Massey said. But the presidential race is generating interest and may bring more voters to the polls, he said. Still not all voters will cast a ballot for a judge.
"If you look at past campaigns, lots of voters don't get that far down on the ballot," said candidate Charles F. Wagner, a Bel Air attorney. "Maryland's primary is the week after what they are calling tsunami Tuesday and that may have some effect, especially if the presidential candidates are all but decided."
Wagner has won the unanimous endorsement of the Harford County Republican Central Committee, said its chairman Michael A. Geppi.
Besides giving voters a choice, the challengers are highlighting their qualifications.
"Experience in life and law is more important than what is politically correct or who the governor thinks should be on the bench," said H. Edward Andrews III, a Bel Air attorney. "The other candidates, including the one appointed by the governor, none of them have the diversity and amount of experience that I do."
Wagner said, "I have a broad background with real life experiences. I have done a lot of work in Circuit Court. I think of it as the place to help people and make sure they don't come through again."
Andrews, 60, earned a bachelor's degree in history at the University of Maryland College Park and a law degree from American University.
He served in the Army and fought in Vietnam. After he was discharged, he worked five years with the Washington police department and attended law school. He moved to Baltimore, where he worked as a public defender, then in the prosecutor's office. He has had a criminal and civil practice in Bel Air for 24 years, and now handles mainly criminal and domestic cases.
"My credentials, I believe, better qualify me to be [the judge] than any other candidate," he said. "It's nothing personal. This is a mission I have to do."
Eaves, 48, the incumbent, earned a bachelor's degree in government and a law and a master's degree in public administration from the University of Texas at Austin.
Her legal career began as a city attorney for Dallas, working on criminal, zoning and land use cases. After moving to Maryland in 1989, she worked at the Legal Aid Bureau in Harford County for nearly three years and then moved to the attorney general's office in Baltimore. Gov. Parris N. Glendening appointed her to Harford County District Court in 2000. In December, Gov. Martin O'Malley appointed her to replace retiring Judge Maurice W. Baldwin Jr.
After nearly eight years serving on District Court, "I have a commitment to the citizens here and have learned what it takes to make good, effective decisions that impact people's lives in a fair way," she said.
"Most of my practice was in Circuit Court before I became a District Court judge. As a District Court judge, I became better seasoned on how to hear cases. The various experiences I have, they complement each other."
Scheinin, 61, a Fallston resident with a law office in Aberdeen, has been a litigator for 23 years and a prosecutor for several years before that.
"I would be good at the judge's job," he said. "It's the next logical step. I am well versed in courtroom procedure and evidence, having been on both sides of the trial table."
A 1973 graduate of the University of Baltimore School of Law, he earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Loyola College. He has long been active in the Fallston Volunteer Fire Co. and the Greater Fallston Association.
As an unsuccessful judge candidate in several previous races, he knows he is facing an uphill battle. This is the first race that he can recall that has more than one challenger, he said.
"I guess I have stirred everyone up," he said. "Generally, it's just me challenging."
Wagner, 54, opened a law practice in Bel Air in 1992. He came to the profession through a circuitous route that included years of work in the boilermakers' union, while attending evening college and law school.
He grew up in Baltimore County, earned his undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Baltimore in 1985 and his law degree there four years later. He and his family moved to Harford in 1991. Experience makes him the best person for the job, he said.
"I am hoping my involvement in many social, political and charitable organizations will help in what is a very short time to campaign," he said.
The candidates' campaign signs are posted throughout the county and may at least familiarize voters with who is running, Massey said.
"These are not candidates that voters have seen in other races," he said. "But it's a short ballot. You have president, Congress and then judgeship."
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Absentee Ballots
Absentee ballot requests must be mailed no later than Tuesday to the Board of Elections, 133 Industry Lane, Forest Hill, Md. 21050.
Information: 410-638-3565.