An Arkansas man who won a record-breaking Powerball jackpot worth more than $1.8 billion has been identified as the younger brother of Terry Hartwick, the mayor of North Little Rock, Ark.
Tracy L. Hartwick bought a $30 Quick Play ticket with the Power Play option at a Murphy USA gas station in Cabot, a city of about 27,000 people northeast of Little Rock, before the Christmas Eve drawing, according to lottery records first reported by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
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His ticket matched all five white balls and the Powerball, making it the second-largest jackpot in Powerball history. Hartwick chose a lump-sum payout, rather than the yearly payout for 30 years that would have equalled $1.8 billion all together. He took home $834.9 million before taxes.
Although Arkansas generally allows lottery winners to remain anonymous, a state transparency law ultimately made Hartwick’s name public because he is the brother of an elected official.
The anonymity exception
Arkansas generally allows people who win lottery prizes of more than $500,000 to keep their identities private. An exception created under Act 889 of 2021 limits that confidentiality to six months for elected officials and certain close relatives, including spouses, parents, children and siblings…