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Republican voters in state Senate District 5 go to the polls again Tuesday to decide between the two top vote-getters in the Sept. 19 primary: state Rep. Lewis Vaughn and political newcomer Mike Meilinger, a certified public accountant. The winner will face Democrat Frank Eppes in November to see who fills the remaining two years in the term of long-time Sen. Verne Smith, who retired this summer because of health problems.

Vaughn has dutifully served District 18 since 1988. He has worked to ensure Greenville County got its fair share of state tax revenue, and he blocked a legislative move that would have punished a supposedly "wealthy" county such as Greenville by stripping it of badly need school funds. He's fiercely independent, a solid conservative and the better choice in Tuesday's runoff election.