Lottery ticket sales were sluggish when they began in North Carolina about two years ago. That changed last year after Gov. Mike Easley and lawmakers agreed to let the lottery increase prize money.

Ticket sales ebb and flow with jackpot totals, the time of year and the economy. Lottery director Tom Shaheen said he anticipates that high gas prices may soon mean fewer ticket sales. To keep sales going, the lottery may occasionally need help.

"The success of the lottery is going to be based on the overall political support that we receive," Shaheen said.

The lottery has not been a big issue in either the Democratic or Republican primary for governor. But when Democrats Beverly Perdue and Richard Moore met for a debate last month, the lottery was one of the few areas they disagreed on.

Moore called it a "fool's game," saying he did not support establishing a lottery in North Carolina. Perdue, who cast the deciding vote to establish the lottery, talked about how it has helped North Carolina.

But even with Perdue's continuing support, it's clear that the next governor will not be the lottery champion that Easley was. Easley pushed a lottery for years as a way to pay for his favorite education ideas.

The Democratic and Republican candidates for governor mostly take a lukewarm view of the lottery. One, Republican state Sen. Fred Smith, voted against it. Another, Republican Bob Orr, filed a lawsuit seeking to have the lottery abolished on the ground that the legislature adopted it unconstitutionally.

Even Perdue says she would favor keeping limits on lottery advertising.

Their opposition now, though, is tepid. Moore and Republicans Pat McCrory, Bill Graham, Smith and Orr say that although they did not support the lottery, they would not push hard as governor to abolish it. Orr's lawsuit is pending before the state Supreme Court. If that case fails, Orr said he would focus on other reform priorities.

But the next governor will still need to deal with the lottery.

* The governor appoints a majority of the lottery commission, which oversees the enterprise.

* The lottery's advertising budget is restricted to 1 percent of its revenues -- which means the lottery can spend about $10 million in a year on advertising, a paltry sum for the expense of television ads. None of the candidates say they support more advertising.

* The distribution formula for lottery proceeds favors counties with high property tax rates, which has led to complaints from Western counties that they don't get their share of the money.

* The amount of money for prizes is limited. Among players, the state lottery earned a reputation for stingy tickets that didn't win as often as those in other states. Changing that formula last year has led to a boost in sales, lottery officials say.

The state lottery was controversial when it was narrowly adopted by the legislature in 2005 to raise money for education programs. Money is distributed to pre-kindergarten programs, new teacher salaries, school construction and college scholarships across the state. The recent increase in ticket sales led to the largest transfer to education in the lottery's history -- $97.8 million raised in three months.

Dan Gerlach, a senior adviser to Easley, said the governor appointed good people to run the lottery. When they said they needed bigger prizes to sell more tickets, Gerlach said, Easley listened.

"What the governor did was support the advice of professionals who have run lotteries for a long time," Gerlach said.

Regardless of the next governor's attitudes about the lottery, at least for the time being, it's the law.

"The governor is required to execute the laws of the state whether you agree with them or not," Orr said. "If the legislature says, 'Here's the law,' you've got a constitutional responsibility to execute it, even if you've got to hold your nose in the process."

(Staff writer Lynn Bonner contributed to this report.)