Incumbent State Supreme Court Justice John Ark won't be on the Democratic line for the November election.

Ark, a Republican who has the backing of the Monroe County Conservative and Independence Parties, received the Democratic endorsement September 28. But he declined it, says Tom Ferrarese, Democratic elections commissioner for Monroe.

The county Democratic committee backed Ark because it thought he was qualified and had a good record, Democrats say. They speculate that Republicans may worry that if Democrats have a candidate on the first line of the ballot, voters could follow the entire party line.

Former Democratic Party chair Michael Miller says the situation illustrates a larger problem with judicial elections. Judges are prohibited from engaging in political activities, but competitive elections force them to do just that.

Attorneys often contribute money to judges' campaigns, for example, but that creates the potential for a conflict of interest: they may have cases tried by that judge.

Miller's solution: retention elections. Instead of selecting between two candidates, voters should simply be asked whether they want to keep the sitting judge on the bench.

Miller also suggests that sitting judges who are ranked as "qualified" or better by the Monroe County Bar Association be cross-endorsed by parties. In 1988, Miller, Republican chair Barbara Zartman, and Conservative chair Tom Cook led their parties in cross-endorsing five judges.