'We are in a fantastic position' NC congressional candidate gets boost after lottery jackpot win

Emergency physician and U.S. Air Force Reserve Col. Josh McConkey split a $1.5 million lottery jackpot. The prize comes just before the start of in-person early voting.

U.S. Air Force Reserve Col. Josh McConkey speaks with voters at a Jan. 22 candidate forum in Cary, North Carolina.

When emergency physician and U.S. Air Force Reserve Col. Josh McConkey of Apex woke up on Friday, he noticed a suspicious email in his inbox.

The previous night, McConkey had entered a state lottery drawing. As he read the email asking him to enter tax information to claim his share of a $1.5 million prize for a Cash 5 drawing, he was convinced he was being spammed.

“The email says, ‘Hey, you need to log in to provide some tax information,’” McConkey recalled. “I thought that was a little unusual. I didn’t trust it. Here’s another scam. I definitely did not click on the email. It’s probably a good thing I didn’t delete it.”