Stay ahead of the curve as a political insider with deep policy analysis, daily briefings and policy-shaping tools.
Request a DemoBy now you’re acutely aware you’re not holding the winning ticket to this week’s $810 million Mega Millions Jackpot. That honor goes to a Texan who matched all six numbers.
Take solace, though, knowing your weekly spending on lottery tickets in Georgia helps preschoolers get an early educational start and pays students’ way through college via the HOPE Scholarship.
While the jackpot grew from June through Tuesday, Mega Millions generated $17.42 million for HOPE and Georgia’s pre-K programs, according to the Georgia Lottery Corp. The jackpot also paid out nearly $4.5 million in prizes to lottery players.
The winner of this week’s jackpot is looking at a cash option of $409.3 million. Those Texans sure are lucky. Tuesday’s win is the 15th Mega Millions jackpot won in Texas since the Lone Star State joined the game in December 2003.
Tuesday’s jackpot is the largest Mega Millions ever won in September and the seventh largest jackpot in the game’s history. The drawing also produced 2.1 million other winning tickets nationwide.
Just so you know, Georgians are among the nation’s most lottery-obsessed folks, according to Lottery Geeks study. Peach State residents are the seventh biggest lottery spenders, having bought nearly $5.7 billion worth of lottery tickets in 2023. With nearly 11 million residents in the state, that comes to about $520 per person annually.
The study used data from the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries’ 2023 Lottery Sales Report. Rhode Island, with a population of 1.1 million, spent the most on lottery tickets, with residents shelling out an average of $939 per person last year. Rhode Islanders also made the most money in lottery prizes, winning an average of $397 each.
All Georgia Lottery profits pay for specific educational programs. Since 1993, the Georgia Lottery Corp. has returned over $28.3 billion to the state for education. More than 2.1 million students have received HOPE Scholarships and over 2.2 million 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary pre-K program.
To all the lottery loyalists out there: Another Mega Millions drawing, with an estimated $20 million jackpot, will happen Friday.
Have questions, comments or tips? Contact Tammy Joyner on X @lvjoyner or at [email protected].
Know the most important news affecting Georgia
Get our free weekly newsletter that covers government, policy and politics that impact your everyday life—in 5 minutes or less.
Election czar Raffensperger talks challenges ahead of November
DECATUR — Once again, all eyes are on Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. On Tuesday, the engineer-turned-election czar held a whirlwind day of meet-the-press talks, featuring CBS Evening News, a television crew from Sweden and the regular homegrown press corps that continuously chronicle his every move. The daylong event also was a chance for …
Election officials blast U.S. postmaster ahead of November election for mail delays, poorly trained staff
Leaders of two national groups representing thousands of state and local election workers are imploring the head of the U.S. Postal Service to take “extraordinary measures” to fix the nation’s ongoing mail crisis that has led to lost and delayed election-related mail. The National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State …
Weekend Read: New school buses arrive spring ’25; schools grapple with bus driver shortages
The Gist Georgia has ordered 256 new school buses to relieve the aging fleets in public schools around the state, but most of those new buses won’t be on the road until the end of this school year. What’s Happening “We’ll be looking at springtime before those buses start rolling,” said Ken Johnson, pupil transportation …
Presidential race aside, what’s at stake for Georgians in the November election?
The Gist Despite all 236 members of the state House and Senate up for reelection in November, the presidential race has taken center stage in Georgia with the nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris for U.S. president. Nonetheless, Georgia Democrats will be in a push-and-pull contest to gain more seats in both the House and …