Lottery lightning strikes twice for Chesterfield man

When he won in the February 22, 2008, Mega Millions drawing, he joked with Virginia Lottery officials, "I'll see you next time."  Little did he know, there really would be a next time.

Three months later, the same lucky lottery player was back at Lottery headquarters with another Mega Millions ticket worth $250,000.

When asked about his amazing luck, Mr. Branch replied, "I really can't explain it!"

Mr. Branch matched the first five numbers in the May 20, 2008, Mega Millions drawing.  He bought the winning ticket at Hull Street BP/Amoco, located at 8211 Hull Street Road in Richmond.

The winning numbers for that drawing were 2-14-26-32-41 and the Mega Ball was 32.

The win occurred just two days before Mr. Branch and his wife celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary with a trip to Myrtle Beach.

Other Mega Millions winning tickets

Lawrenceville mayor wins $250,000 in lottery

Call him the mayor of Easy Street.

Rex Millsaps, mayor of Lawrenceville, Georgia, hit the lottery Friday for a quarter million dollars.

"I wasn't playing the lottery," Millsaps joked Wednesday. "I was supporting the HOPE scholarship."

Millsaps, 57, plans to give the winnings to his children and grandchildren after paying for his youngest daughter Karla's wedding — and getting his pickup truck detailed.

Millsaps' day job is accounting. Though he's often called to handle city affairs, work as mayor is technically part time and pays $800 a month.

He's not quitting either job. In fact, he plans to run for re-election in November — with a huge campaign war chest, he said.

The mayor bought a Mega Millions ticket a few weeks ago when the grand prize momentarily soared over $100 million. He matched only one of six numbers, but it was the Mega Ball number and brought $2 in winnings. Millsaps parlayed the small win into two more tickets.

Last Saturday morning, Millsaps was on the phone at work with his wife, Sheila, when he checked the numbers online and noticed he had matched the first four digits of the Mega Millions drawing. Then he saw it was actually the first five numbers.

"She didn't believe me," he said. "I ended up taking it back to the store, and the computer said to go immediately to the lottery office."

The winning numbers were 39-40-47-53-55 and the Mega Ball was 32. Millsaps' Mega Ball number was 34. Nobody hit all six numbers, which would have been worth $16 million.

"If it was 32," he said of his Mega Ball pick, "I really would have quit."

Millsaps served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1983 to 1984 and the Gwinnett County Merit System Board from 1995 to 2006. He was elected mayor in 2006.

Millsaps said he has only shared the news with close friends and family for the past few days. Lawrenceville City Council member Bob Clark first learned of the mayor's good fortune Wednesday afternoon.

"Well good for him," Clark said. "That's great. Somebody I know finally won."

Millsaps is not the first elected official to win the lottery in Georgia.

On June 29, 2004, Fayette County Sheriff Randall Johnson picked five of six numbers in the Mega Millions drawing of the Georgia Lottery. He won $175,000. The next day, Johnson went back to the same convenience store where he purchased the Mega Millions tickets, bought two Cash 4 tickets and won $5,400.

$140,000 Mega Millions ticket waiting to be claimed

Maybe it's the California weather, but it looks like Lady Luck might be hanging around Fountain Valley, at least when it comes to the Mega Millions multistate lottery.

For the second time this year, someone who purchased a ticket in the city came close to winning the grand prize in the Mega Millions draw Tuesday night, when the jackpot was worth $25 million.

The winning ticket, purchased at the 7-Eleven at 16475 Harbor Blvd., scored five of the six numbers required to win and is worth $140,719. The prize has yet to be claimed, according to lottery officials.

The winning numbers for Tuesday's Mega Millions drawing were 4, 19, 24, 32, 54 and the mega number was 5

"It's great!" said Manjeet Ghuman, the owner of the store.

Ghuman said she sold a Fantasy Five ticket worth almost $26,000 several weeks ago at another of her store locations, at Bushard Street and Garfield Avenue. Since then, she said, she's seen an increase in the number of customers coming into that store.

"I'll probably see more sales for the lottery and more customers," Ghuman said, adding that this may be the largest prize ever won from any of her stores.

The latest win was preceded by another in March, when a ticket worth $198,469 was bought from American Liquor on Magnolia Street.

The woman who won that prize had left the ticket sitting in the car, and didn't discover it until 45 days later when she sent her husband to clean out the car.

Winners have 180 days from the date of the drawing to claim their prize. Any unclaimed prize is added to the lottery's contribution to California schools.

Lottery officials encourage players who have a winning ticket to sign the back of their ticket, keep it in a safe place and contact lottery officials or visit a local district office as soon as possible.

There is a state lottery office at 3400 W. Warner Ave., Suite F, in Santa Ana. It can be reached at 714-708-0540.

The next Mega Millions lottery drawing is Friday, which has an estimated jackpot of $36 million.

Thanks to Konane and DC81 for the tips