Casino Opponents Disagree Over Level Of Support At Vienna Festival

VIENNA, VA — Perhaps not surprisingly, opponents and advocates for the proposed Tysons casino disagreed about the success of their recent public engagement efforts in Vienna.

Bill Comerford, one of the volunteers working the No Casino Coalition booth last weekend at the ViVa! Vienna Festival, shared some photos with Patch along with his assessment of the feedback the group received from festival goers.

"Support at the No Casino Coalition booth was overwhelmingly and very vocal against having a casino in our community," he said. "Their unified message was that such a development right in the middle of Tysons would indelibly alter the character of the community — for the worse."

Virginia Players Alliance founder Ben Tribbett, who manned the pro-casino group's booth last weekend, had a different take on the crowd's reaction.

Related: Tysons Casino Supporters, Detractors Turn Out At ViVa! Vienna

"I would say Saturday it was narrowly in favor of us, even here in Vienna," he said. "The opposition is generally older people. The constituency that supports this generally tends to be people in their 40s and 50s. We had a lot of people walking by them and were sort of giving us a thumbs up as they went by and weren't signing up because they were with their kids. People don't want to roll the dice in front of their kids."

The VPA booth offered festival attendees the chance to roll dice and potentially win a $50 gift card to Davio's, a Northern Italian steakhouse located at Reston Station Plaza in Reston.

No Casino Coalition volunteer Tracy McCarthy balked at Tribbett's suggestion that only older people opposed the casino.

"I've had lots of people come up with little kids, literally small children and families with kids in strollers, who are very concerned," she said. "What I'm seeing is that the issue is multi-generational. Do I see that the people who are volunteering here happen to be older? Yes, because those are the people right now who have time to dedicate to this cause, even though they're not necessarily living in Vienna."

Tribbett founded VPA in 2021 to advocate for charitable gaming and oppose skill games, which the general assembly banned in 2020. VPA also supports the proposed Tysons casino.

No Casino Coalition is the latest iteration of the anti-casino group Citizens Opposed to Reston Casino, which was formed last October by Reston Citizens Association, Reston Strong, Rescue Reston, Reston 2020, and Save Our Sunrise. Patch reported in September 2023 that Comstock Holding Companies planned to build a casino somewhere in or around Reston, which led to the group's formation.

When State Sen. Dave Marsden (D-Burke) introduced his casino referendum bill in January during the 2024 Virginia General Assembly session, he confirmed that the plan was to build a convention center and performance space in Tysons anchored by a casino. With his shift in location, CORC became No Casino Coalition to oppose Comstock's casino plans in Tysons.

A former professional card player, Tribbett is the owner of Pocket Aces Consulting, which specializes in helping Democratic campaigns with their messaging.

In 2023 and 2024, Tribbett's company reported receiving $1,125,941 for the services it provided to Democratic candidates and their campaigns, according to state campaign finance filings reported by the nonprofit Virginia Public Access Project.

Virginia Speaker of the House Scott Surovell (D-Alexandria), one of the chief advocates of building a casino in Tysons, paid Pocket Aces $43,030 in 2023 for campaign and mailing services, according to VPAP. Surovell told Patch that tax money from a Northern Virginia casino would provide an additional revenue stream for Fairfax County, which he said was overly dependent on the real estate tax to pay for its services.

Sen. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) paid Pocket Aces $209,168 for campaign services in 2023, according to VPAP. Tribbett told Patch earlier this year that he advised Lucas on her social media.

As the chairwoman of the Virginia Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations, Lucas presided over the Feb. 3 meeting when committee members voted to hold over Marsden's casino referendum bill to the 2025 legislative session.

Related:

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• NoVA Casino Without Referendum Possible With Budget Amendment: Report

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.