Veteran Harford County prosecutor Joseph Cassilly said Monday he will not be a candidate for Circuit Court Judge in the April 3 primary election.

Cassilly wrote in an e-mail that he will not challenge recently appointed Judge Melba Elizabeth Bowen, a member of his staff until she was named a judge last month by Gov. Martin O'Malley.

Cassilly was one of 11 people who applied for the judgeship; however, he did not make the list of five finalists chosen by the Harford Judicial Nominating Commission.

Under state law, circuit judges must stand for election after being appointed. They can be opposed by any member in good standing of the state bar who lives in Harford County. Candidates cross file to run in both Democratic and Republican primaries; if one candidate finishes first in both, he or she will be the only candidate listed on the November general election ballot.

Bowen, who will be sworn in Jan. 27, filed her candidacy Monday. She will be opposed by Steven Scheinin, who had already filed his candidacy, as well as H. Edward Andrews III, of Bel Air. Scheinin, a Fallston resident, has run unsuccessfully several times for judge. Andrews also has run for judge before. The deadline to file is 9 p.m. today (Wednesday).

Though Harford has had a number of contested judicial elections, only one sitting circuit judge has ever been unseated, in 1954.