Courtesy Iowa Lottery
The Iowa citizen that excitedly walked into the state lottery headquarters to pick up his winnings Monday is none other than former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, who won a $150,000 Powerball prize and came one number short of the $347 million jackpot.
Hey, he looks familiar! Former Gov. Tom Vilsack stopped by lottery HQ to claim a $150,000 #Powerball prize, and was joined for a photo with Iowa Lottery CEO Matt Strawn. Vilsack bought his winning ticket @hyvee, 1005 E. Hickman Road in #Waukee. Congratulations! #WooHooForYou pic.twitter.com/5T4VkdbjZX
— Iowa Lottery (@ialottery) February 10, 2020
Vilsack, who is president and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council, bought the winning ticket at a Hy-Vee grocery store in Waukee, the Des Moines suburb where he lives. The former secretary of agriculture under Obama has endorsed Joe Biden in the 2020 Democratic primary.
In an odd twist, the man holding the oversized check with Vilsack is Iowa Lottery CEO Matt Strawn, who resigned as chair of the state Republican Party in 2012 after it fumbled the Iowa Caucus results, initially calling Mitt Romney the winner by eight votes, before reversing course, and certifying Rick Santorum as the winner by 34 votes.
Vilsack — who said he will share the winnings with his children and his church — came under fire last year for a salary just shy of $1 million, with ten executives at his company making more than $800,000 in 2017, despite 1,600 dairy farms closing nationwide, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
