Two candidates for Allegheny County Common Pleas Court who failed to win in the Democratic May primary but were nominated on the Republican side have agreed not to actively campaign this fall.

The decision by Michelle Zappala Peck and Alex Bicket not to campaign or spend money effectively creates a clear path for the slate of five Democratic candidates who won the May primary.

By not campaigning and appearing only on the Republican ticket, Mrs. Zappala Peck and Mr. Bicket, both attorneys from Mt. Lebanon, are extremely unlikely to win election in November. Among the Democratic candidates who would benefit from their decision is state Rep. Don Walko, who was rated "not recommended" by the Allegheny County Bar Association, whereas Mr. Bicket was rated highly qualified.

"If it's true, it denigrates the spirit of the partisan election system," said Bruce Ledewitz, a Duquesne University Law School professor. "Obviously, the system is set up to encourage real elections. If you don't have real elections the system is not working."

It is common for judges to run on both party tickets and it is also commonly accepted that candidates generally need to be on the Democratic ticket to win.

Mrs. Zappala Peck and Mr. Bicket could have withdrawn from the race after the primary and asked to be removed from the November ballot. Had they done so, the local Republican Party, which does not support Mrs. Zappala Peck and Mr. Bicket, could name replacements for them. But after conferring with the five Democrats that won the most votes at the primary, the two agreed to be placeholders.

Mrs. Zappala Peck and Mr. Bicket both said they came to their decisions on their own and that nobody forced them to do this.

Mrs. Zappala Peck, 49, described the meetings with her fellow candidates as "cordial."

"My gut is things happen the way they are supposed to happen," she said.

Mr. Bicket, 52, a trial attorney who specializes in environmental litigation, said, "In a perfect world, I would love there to be seven people actively campaigning in the November election for the right reason and on the right issues. But this is not a perfect world, this is politics."

Allegheny County Republican Chairman Jim Roddey agreed with Mr. Bicket, but from a different perspective.

"It's unfortunate, but it's politics," Mr. Roddey said. "I firmly believe that judges races should be nonpartisan at the common pleas level."

At some point after the Democratic primary, the two candidates told Jim Burn, chairman of the Allegheny County Democratic Committee, that "they decided not to campaign for the seat," which he said, "helps our ticket overall."

The Democratic Party will look kindly upon them for that decision, he said.

In addition to Mr. Walko, the Democrats on the ticket include two sitting judges and a medical malpractice lawyer.

The nonpartisan committee of lawyers from the bar association gave Judge Joseph K. Williams, a criminal court judge, and attorney Philip A. Ignelzi, a malpractice and white collar defense attorney, the top rating, "highly recommended."

Susan Evashavik DiLucente, a magisterial district judge in the eastern suburbs, and veteran trial lawyer Arnie Klein were rated "recommended," by the bar association. And Mr. Walko, who has represented Observatory Hill in the state Legislature for 15 years, was rated "not recommended at this time."

This means the bar association found that at some future time in his legal career he could have the potential to excel as a judge, but the committee doesn't think he has it yet, said Jay Blechman, the previous president of the county bar association.

Mr. Walko, who admitted he last wrote a legal brief in 1994 or 1995 said, he knows "it's an issue that I'm out of practice."

"I respect the bar association. I'm a member of the bar, and I've been following their evaluations for years ... I just think sometimes people have qualifications that aren't in their criteria for evaluation."

On the flip side of that equation is Mr. Bicket, whom the bar association rated as "highly qualified."

Although he said he made the decision not to campaign on his own, he acknowledged it was a political one.

"As a trial lawyer for 21 years it's difficult to believe that the community doesn't want to elect judges who are qualified and are highly rated by their peers. Having said that, you have to understand that this is a political process. So the rules are different."

Mrs. Zappala Peck, who is a special master for court's Board of Viewers and hears property assessment and eminent domain appeals, was rated "not recommended at this time."

She is the sister of the District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr., and the daughter of former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Stephen A. Zappala Sr.

"It's in my blood" to stick with the Democratic party, "if I want to go anywhere in the future," she said.

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