ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – The man who will oversee scratch-off games and Powerball sales in Minnesota knows his way around a state lottery.

Gov. Mark Dayton on Tuesday named Edwin Van Petten executive director of the Minnesota State Lottery. For 11 years, he held the same position in Kansas.

The appointment ends a search that started last summer when the Minnesota lottery’s director went on personal leave. The agency had been run by a temporary fill-in.

The lottery is a large enterprise in Minnesota. Last year, it had sales topping $500 million and net proceeds of $122 million. By law, one-third of profits from the lottery go to environmental programs.

According to Dayton’s office, Van Petten’s time at the head of the Kansas lottery coincided with a 68 percent increase in ticket sales.

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