Jersey City councilman-elect Michael Yun sells winning $1 million lottery ticket at his store

Yarleen Hernandez
The Jersey Journal
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on June 19, 2013

Tuesday, June 11 was Michael Yun?s lucky day.

On the same day Yun won the runoff election in the Jersey City Heights to land a seat on the City Council, a $1 million Mega Millions lottery ticket was sold at his store, Garden State News on Central Avenue.

?She?s a regular customer,? Yun, 59, said about the lottery winner. ?She comes almost every day and is a heavy player. She deserved to have it. This person is very, very nice to us and she?s a good neighbor and I?m glad to see we have another millionaire in our district.?

And the million-dollar winner wasn?t the only one to cash in on the prize winnings. As the seller of the winning ticket, Garden State News is being sent a check for $10,000 from the lottery commission.

Jennifer Yun, Michael?s wife of 33 years, said she found out about the winning ticket the morning after the election.

?At 7 o?clock in the morning the lottery came,? she said. ?I thought it was some kind of investigation from the election since they were checking all my licenses but then I found out it was a million-dollar win.?

The winning numbers were 15, 40, 45, 50 and 53.

?I was so excited for her because she?s a very sweet lady,? said Maritza Tooke, an employee at the store for more than 30 years.

?I know her through a friend of mine and I was very happy for her. I don?t think it could?ve happened to a better person. I told her that day we have two winners. We have you as a winner and Michael as a winner too. Double whammy.?

The Yuns have owned the store at the corner of Bowers Street for 32 years. Michael Yun couldn?t remember exactly when it happened, but the store once sold a $8.6 million winning Pick Six ticket, he said.

Patricia Minogue, who has been buying lottery tickets from the Yuns for years, didn?t know about the big win.

?Oh, you?re kidding,? she said when she was told about it. ?Why wasn?t I here? Story of my life. But Michael does a fantastic job and so do the girls. They?re terrific people. I?m so happy he won the election.?