The Senate Panel confirmed the Gov. Larry Hogan's choice to head the agency which oversees the Maryland Lottery and also the state's casinos on Monday night on a contested vote.

The senators voted 27-17 to approve the choice of Gordon Medenica as the director of State Lottery & Gaming Control Agency over the objections of Sen. Joan Carter Conway, the Baltimore Democrat who chairs the Senate's education and environment committee.

Medenica is a former head of the New York lottery agency who was recruited by the Hogan administration to head the Maryland's gambling operations more than 21 months ago. His nomination ran into a controversy over the award of $262 million, an eight-year contract to operate the lottery to Scientific Games, a firm Medenica previously worked for. The conway accused Medenica of running a biased procurement process.

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Supporters of Medenica's appointment have noted that it is a narrow industry with a fairly small number of experts. The lottery last week said in a statement that the seven-member evaluation committee received bids from the only three companies in the world which are qualified to fulfill the contract. This committee, which did not include the Director Medenica, was required to select the bidder that represents the 'best value' to the state. This does not mean simply accepting the lowest bid but it means selecting the vendor that will perform at the highest level for the state. It was made clear in all the communications to potential bidders that technical factors outweigh price, as is the case in the majority of lottery procurements all across the country.

The committee recommended Medenica's confirmation over the Conway's objections. All of the votes against his nomination were cast by the Democrats. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, who voted for the confirmation, said that the objections to his nomination should have been raised earlier.

Mrudula Duddempudi.