For Immediate Release:
October 27, 2005
Sen. Aldridge: Gov. Henry Should Put His Money
Where His Mouth Is & Play the Lottery
Gov. Brad Henry should regularly play the Oklahoma Education
Lottery – and pledge to give his net winnings to public schools
– to publicly show his support for the state-run gambling operation
that is the cornerstone of his agenda.
“The governor should put his money where his mouth is and regularly
play the Oklahoma Lottery,” stated Sen. Cliff
Aldridge, R-Choctaw. “I am being consistent by not playing
a lottery that I personally opposed. But the governor is being hypocritical
by having pushed for the lottery and now refusing to play it.”
Henry recently said it would be inappropriate for him to play the lottery.
“Can you imagine the uproar if I won a prize?” the governor
quipped to the Tulsa World in an Oct. 12 story.
“If the governor is so concerned about the appearance of impropriety,
he could pledge to donate his net winnings to public education,”
Aldridge said. “It is more likely he isn’t playing the lottery
because of the long odds of winning. Oklahomans are far more likely
to be struck by lightning than to strike it rich in the lottery.”
* The chances of winning the multi-state Powerball lottery – which
Oklahoma will join next year – are 1 in 146 million.
* The odds of winning the $25,000 prize from scratch-off tickets in
Oklahoma are 1 in 1,890,000 according to the Oklahoma Lottery Commission.
* The chances of winning the $5,000 scratch-off prize are 1 in 604,000.
And the chances of winning the $1,000 scratch-off prize are 1 in 302,000.
* By comparison, the National Weather Service estimates that the odds
of being struck by lightning in a given year are 1 in 240,000.