Casino Developer Gave $57K To VA Senate Gaming Sub-Committee Members

• Corrections: (Sunday, Jan. 28, 10:45 a.m.): A donation from Warren M. Thompson was added to this story. An explanation appears in the body of the story.
• (Friday, Jan. 26, 10 a.m.): Patch discovered donations from the Building a Better Virginia PAC to two other members of the Senate Committee on General Laws & Technology. This story has been updated to reflect that change.

RICHMOND, VA — Now that Sen. Dave Marsden (D-Burke) has submitted his casino-related bill in the Virginia General Assembly and a property in Tysons has been identified as the casino's likely location, Senate Bill 675 will begin its journey this week through the legislative process.

The bill's first stop is in the Senate General Laws and Technology Committee's sub-committee on gaming. Of the committee's 15 members, Virginia State Board of Elections campaign finance reports show that nine have received donations from Comstock Holding Companies, the Reston Station-based developer hoping to build the casino since the beginning of last year.

In September 2023, Patch first reported that Comstock wanted to build a casino somewhere Metro's Silver Line outside the Capital Beltway in Fairfax County. Since January 2023, the company has donated more than $637,000 to the political action committees of candidates running in the 2023 election cycle and legislators serving in the 2024 general assembly session, according to the Virginia State Board of Elections campaign finance reports.

The donations to the general laws and technology committee came from Comstock CEO Christopher Clemente and the company's political action committee, Building a Remarkable Virginia.

Related: GOP Casino Bill Backer Linked To Developer's Family, Chamber Lobbyist

Another committee member received a donation from the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce PAC (NOVABIZPAC). The $1,000 payment was authorized by Nick Clemente, the son of Comstock's CEO. The donation was made on May 23, 2023, when the younger Clemente was acting as the chamber's representative in Richmond.

Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology

• Chair Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Arlington): $10,000 - Adam Ebbin for Senate [Donor: Christopher Daniel Clemente/Comstock CEO]
• Sen. Mamie Locke (D-Hampton): $10,000 - Locke for State Senate [Donor: BRVPAC]
• Sen. Bryce Reeves (R-Fredericksburg): $10,000 - Bryce Reeves for Senate [Donor: BRVPAC]
• Sen. Jeremy McPike (D-Woodbridge): $1,000 - McPike for Senate (Donor: NOVABIZPAC/Authorized by Nick Clemente)
• Sen. Todd Pillion (R-Abingdon): $15,000 - Todd Pillion for Senate [Donor: BRVPAC]
• Sen. Aaron R. Rouse (D-Virginia Beach): $2,500 - Aaron Rouse for Senate (Donor: Warren M. Thompson)
• Sen. Christopher Head (R-Roanoke): $2,000 - Chris Head for Senate [Donor: BRVPAC]
• Sen. Emily Jordan (R-Smithfield): $2,000 - Emily Jordan for Senate (Donor BRVPAC)
• Sen. Lashrecse Aird (D-Petersburg)
• Sen. Schulyler VanValkenburg (D-Richmond): $1,000 - Schuyler VanValkenburg for Senate [Donor: BRVPAC]
• Sen. Danica Roem (D-Manassas)
• Sen. Suhas Subramanyam (D-Ashburn)
• Sen. Jennifer Carroll Foy (D-Prince William)
• Sen. Timmy French (R-Woodstock): $2,000 - Timmy French for Senate [Donor: BRVPAC]
• Sen. Christie Craig (R-Chesapeake): $2,000 - Christie Craig for Senate (Donor: BRVPAC)

TOTAL: $57,500

Note: During the subcommittee hearing, Benita Thompson-Byas, the vice chairman of the Thompson Hospitality Corporation, spoke in support of Marsden's bill. She also mentioned that her company was a minority partner on the project. As such, Patch has included a $2,500 donation from Warren M. Thompson of Thompson Hospitality. The totals above have been updated to reflect that change.

The same 15 lawmakers sit on the Gaming Sub-Committee, which is scheduled to review 12 bills, including SB 675, on Tuesday, according to the general assembly's website:

Senate Sub-Committee On Gaming (1/24/2024)

• SB 124 Sports betting; permitted on Virginia college sports. Permits betting, with the exception of proposition betting, on Virginia college sports. Under current law, betting other than proposition betting is allowed on all college sports except Virginia college sports.
• SB 307 Regulation of electronic gaming devices; penalties. . Authorizes and specifies the licensing requirements for the manufacture, distribution, operation, servicing, hosting, and play of electronic gaming devices, as defined in the bill.
• SB 344 Charitable gaming; organization to use predetermined percentage of its receipts for expenses. Amends charitable gaming law to allow, as a condition of receiving a charitable gaming permit or authorization to conduct electronic gaming, certain organizations to use a predetermined percentage of its receipts for expenses related to the rental of real property where such real property is involved in the operation of the organization and used for lawful religious, charitable, community, or educational purposes
• SB 345 Casino gaming; limits on required local referendums. Provides that the governing body of any eligible host city that holds a local referendum on the question of whether casino gaming should be permitted in such city that subsequently fails shall be prohibited from holding another referendum on the same question for a period of three years from the date of the last referendum.
• SB 348 Gaming; posting of illegal gaming tip line information. Requires those legally authorized to sell Virginia lottery tickets or conduct charitable gaming, horse racing with pari-mutuel wagering, and casino gaming in the Commonwealth to post in a conspicuous place on their premises a sign that bears the toll-free telephone number and website of the illegal gaming tip line established and administered by the Office of the Gaming Enforcement Coordinator in the Department of State Police for members of the public to report concerns about, or suspected instances of, illegal gaming activities.

• SB 397 Gaming; posting of illegal gaming tip line information. Requires those legally authorized to sell Virginia lottery tickets or conduct charitable gaming, horse racing with pari-mutuel wagering, and casino gaming in the Commonwealth to post in a conspicuous place on their premises a sign that bears the toll-free telephone number and website of the illegal gaming tip line established and administered by the Office of the Gaming Enforcement Coordinator in the Department of State Police for members of the public to report concerns about, or suspected instances of, illegal gaming activities.
• SB 429 Casino gaming; eligible host cities. Reduces from five to four the number of cities eligible to host a casino in the Commonwealth by removing Richmond from the list of eligible host cities.
• SB 540 Illegal gambling; exemptions. Exempts from the provisions of Code prohibiting illegal gambling the placement or operation of or communication to and from equipment in the Commonwealth associated with the hosting of lottery games duly authorized by another state or jurisdiction and regulated and operated consistent with and exclusively for the benefit of such state or jurisdiction, provided that wagering on such games is legally authorized in such other state or jurisdiction and the individuals wagering on such games are required by the laws or regulations of such other state or jurisdiction to be physically located within the geographic bounds of such other state or jurisdiction at the time the wager is initiated or placed.
• SB 541 Casino gaming; removes the City of Richmond as an eligible host city. Removes the City of Richmond as an eligible host city for casino gaming establishments in the Commonwealth.
• SB 628 Casino gaming; eligible host cities. Amends the list of cities eligible to host a casino in the Commonwealth by replacing Richmond with Petersburg.
• SB 675 Casino gaming; eligible host localities. Adds Fairfax County to the list of localities eligible to host a casino in the Commonwealth and provides that any proposed site for a casino gaming establishment considered by Fairfax County shall be (i) located within one-quarter of a mile of an existing station on the Metro Silver Line, (ii) part of a coordinated mixed-use project development, (iii) outside of the Dulles airport flight path, (iv) within two miles of a major shopping destination containing not less than 1.5 million square feet of gross building area, and (v) outside of the Interstate 495 Beltway.
• SB 689 Exemptions to article; cruise ship gaming in the offshore waters of the Commonwealth.

Patch acknowledges that Comstock, its employees, family members and others have a right to make donations to any candidate whose campaign they wish to support. The same goes for the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce.

Patch is reporting this publicly available information; it is not saying that Comstock, its employees, family members and others, including the chamber, did anything illegal.

Related:

• Tysons Casino Location Verified By VA Legislator Who Introduced Bill
• No Casino In Reston: VA Senate Bill Eyes Other Location
• Say No To Reston Casino: RA CEO Tells 60K Members To Call VA Lawmakers
• Casino Developer Donates $180K As Push For Bill Begins

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.