Senate votes Maryland lottery authority

Governor Larry Hogan’s choice will head the state agency that oversees local casinos and the Maryland Lottery.

US.- The Senate voted monday night the measure to allow Gordon Medenica as the director of the State Lottery & Gaming Control Agency. The official was the preferred choice of the Maryland governor Larry Hogan.

The senators voted 27-17 to establish Medenica as the head of the agency. This won’t be the first time that he becomes the head of a gambling agency, since he’s the former director of the New York lottery agency. “The seven-member evaluation committee received bids from the only three companies in the world that are qualified to fulfill the contract. This committee, which did not include Director Medenica, was required to select the bidder that represents the ‘best value’ to the state,” said the Maryland Lottery in a statement.

“This does not mean simply accepting the lowest bid; it means selecting the vendor that will perform at the highest level for the state. It was made clear in all communications to potential bidders that technical factors outweigh price, as is the case in the majority of lottery procurements across the country,” it continued.

According to Baltimore Sun, all of the voted registered as negative towards Medenica’s nomination were cast by Democrats. Thomas V. Mike Miller, President of the Senate, voted in favor of his nomination and said that if someone was concerned about it, they should’ve raised their doubts and objections earlier.