It's time for Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen to take himself out of the race.

His fitness to stand for re-election is tainted by the scandal that surfaced last month when he admitted to a 3½-year affair with a woman he hired and then promoted in his office. The voters deserve a real choice between uncompromised candidates. They can't have that as long as Allen insists on keeping his name on the ballot.

Allen's admission to the affair came the day before the woman in question, assistant county prosecutor Rebecca Collins, filed a federal sexual discrimination and harassment suit against him.

Collins, a former news clerk and copy editor on the Enquirer's editorial page, claims she was coerced into the affair and continued it because she feared losing her job. She said when she tried to end the affair, Allen retaliated by denying her a promotion.

Allen denies the harassment and discrimination and says the relationship was at all times consensual. In any case, his admitted behavior was a disgraceful violation of the public trust.

We had hoped Allen would have the class to resign and spare his office the indignities heaped upon it as the chapters of this sordid he-said, she-said continue to come out. Unfortunately, he has put his personal desire to hang onto his $110,000-per-year job ahead of his public responsibility.

Ohio law and the election calendar effectively will give Allen a free pass unless he chooses the honorable course and withdraws from the election. Even if his conduct violated the policies of the county and the prosecutor's office, no one in county government has the power to fire him because he is a separately elected official.

If Allen loses the lawsuit, he (or more likely the taxpayers because the county is named as a co-defendant) could be assessed damages, but he could not be forced to leave office.

He had no opposition to re-election this year before the scandal broke. The deadline for any other candidates to get their names on the ballot is long past. A write-in candidacy is possible, but potential write-in candidates must file with the Board of Elections by Monday afternoon.

While James Rueger, an independent Republican, has registered as a write-in, the reality is that no write-in candidate stands a chance of winning as long as Allen's name remains printed on the ballot.

"The reality is Mike's on the ballot, and we're stuck with that," Clerk of Courts Greg Hartmann said Wednesday after Republican leaders met in a closed-door session, without Allen, to sort out the mess.

Allen is entitled to the due process of the courts to determine if his behavior violated the legal test of sexual harassment. But he is wrong to say his admitted conduct should not cost him his job. His behavior was reprehensible, and the longer he stays on the job the longer the scandal will continue to dominate the operation and public perception of the prosecutor's office.

If Allen really cares about the office, as he claims, and the citizens he has served, he will do the right thing and go. The sooner the better.