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Les Merritt seems to have the right pedigree for state auditor. He's the first certified public accountant to fill the post. He has been a Wake County commissioner, which gives him grassroots political experience, and he has performed public audits as a partner in Zebulon-based Merritt, Petway, Mills & Hockaday. After losing in 2000, he beat Ralph Campbell in a close election last November.
But is he tough enough? Campbell frequently riled bureaucrats, including fellow Democrats, with his high-profile audits, but voters knew he was on the job and returned him to office twice. Merritt, 53, plans to keep a lower profile. Since November, he has met with...