After more than a decade at the helm, Debra Douglas will step down as Chairman of the New Hampshire Lottery Commission at the end of the month, the agency announced Tuesday.

Douglas, who was first appointed to the commission in 2009, has served as its chair since 2010, completing five terms in the position. She is set to leave on June 30.

“The achievements we have attained are nothing short of incredible — headlined by our recent milestone of $3 billion in contributions to public education in New Hampshire since our inception in 1964,” Douglas said in a written statement. “I am so grateful to have had this opportunity to help the nation’s first state-run lottery grow to more than $600 million in annual sales and to maximize revenue for public education in the state each day I went to work.”

The New Hampshire Lottery credited Douglas’ leadership with transforming the agency into one of the “fastest-growing and most successful lotteries in the country.”

During her tenure, the Lottery introduced NH iLottery and KENO 603, and expanded its portfolio with a wide variety of new scratch tickets and other games.

The agency also modernized its digital platforms, including mobile applications.

“Debra has been an incredible leader and an invaluable member of our team,” New Hampshire Lottery Executive Director Charlie McIntyre said in a statement. “She will be missed greatly, but she has certainly earned her retirement for the tremendous contributions she has made to the New Hampshire Lottery’s record growth and success.”

Douglas oversaw the appeal process related to the revocation of a gaming license for former state senator Andy Sanborn, who was accused by the agency and the state Attorney General of fraudulently obtaining $844,000 in COVID relief funds and spending part of the money on luxury cars for himself and his wife.

Sanborn’s attorneys argued that Douglas should not oversee the appeal, claiming she is not an impartial decision-maker.

 

Sruthi Gopalakrishnan can be reached at sgopalakrishnan@cmonitor.com