RICHMOND, VA — Six of the 10 lawmakers who voted Wednesday to advance a bill that would bring the possibility of a casino being built in Tysons one step closer to a reality, received a combined total of $39,000 in campaign contributions from a Fairfax County developer linked to the project.
Patch reported on Monday that Comstock Holding Companies donated $51,000 to the campaign committees of eight members of the Senate Committee on General Laws & Technology since the beginning of 2023.
Back in September, Patch broke the story that Comstock, which has its headquarters in Reston Station, was planning to put a casino somewhere on Metro’s Silver Line in Fairfax County.
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Since then, the company and its associates, including its Building a Remarkable Virginia Political Action Committee, have donated more than $637,000 to the campaigns of candidates running in the 2023 election cycle or serving currently in the general assembly.
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On Wednesday, the committee voted 10-4-1 to advance Senate Bill 675 to the Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee.
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Yay Votes- 10
Nay Votes – 4
Abstentions – 1
Committee Chair Ebbin and Sen. Head were the only members who received donations from Comstock and voted against advancing the bill.
During the gaming subcommittee meeting the day before, Ebbin expressed reservations about supporting the bill, questioning why the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors hadn’t come forward as a sign of support. This was something that all previous localities seeking authorization for a casino referendum did, he said.
“We did not request this and one of the reasons we didn’t request it is because we didn’t have those kinds of conversations and analysis and understand the implications for residents,” Fairfax County Board Chair Jeff McKay told WUSA9 on Wednesday. “We’re troubled by the process here that we weren’t brought in earlier.”
Supervisors Walter Alcorn (D-Hunter Mill) and Dalia Palchik (D-Providence), whose districts either contain or are adjacent to the Tysons’ property where Comstock hopes to build its casino, told Patch last week that no one from Comstock had contacted them about the casino referendum since it first came to light at the end of September 2023.
Related:
Read all of Patch’s reporting on Comstock Companies’ plan to build a casino on Metro’s Silver Line in Fairfax County at Silver Line Casino.
In an email to his constituents, Alcorn said he was disappointed that SB 675, which would add Fairfax County to the list of localities in Virginia eligible to host a casino, was moving forward.
During session, the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee meets at 9 a.m., on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Patch acknowledges that Comstock, its employees, associates, family members and others have a right to make donations to any candidate whose campaign they wish to support. They are also within their rights to create a political action committee to do so.
Patch is reporting this publicly available information; it is not saying that Comstock, its employees, associates, family members or any others who contributed to the Building a Remarkable Virginia or candidates running during the 2023 election cycle did anything illegal.
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