Casino Developer PAC Made $85K Donation To Democratic Party Leader
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VIRGINIA — State Sen. Scott Surovell (D-Mount Vernon) received an $85,000 donation on Oct. 23 from Building a Remarkable Virginia, the political action committee created by the developer who wants to build a casino at or near the Wiehle-Reston East Metro Station, according to the latest campaign finance filing.
"The Comstock Companies are one of the largest developers in Northern Virginia with a major presence around Metro stations," Surovell told Patch in an email, when asked for a comment about the contribution. "I have been advocating to extend and invest in the Metro system since I was first elected in 2009."
In 2016, Surovell wrote an column for the Richmond Times Dispatch saying that with casino gambling, Virginia could generate $300 million in revenue that could be used to pay for K-12 education and other state-funded programs.
"I have been advocating for Virginia to stop funding Maryland’s schools well before any casino operators ever thought about funding a campaign in Virginia," he said. "Fairfax County has consistently asked the legislature to diversify its revenue sources and is facing a commercial property crash. If Fairfax County does not diversify its revenue sources soon, Fairfax County residents will be facing significant real estate tax increases."
The MGM National Harbor casino, which is located in Maryland across the Potomac River from Surovell's district, brought in $884.46 million in 2022 from slot games and table games, according to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas Center for Gaming Research.
Despite more than eight months of limited capacity due to the pandemic, Maryland's six casinos generated $1.746 billion in gaming revenue, according to the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency's Fiscal Year 2021 report. That meant $725.3 million in state revenue that was distributed to the following beneficiaries:
- Education Trust Fund: $531.4 million
- Local Aid: $92.2 million (including local impact grants and local jurisdiction contributions)
- Maryland’s Horse Racing Industry: $78.8 million (including contributions to the Racetrack Facility
- Renewal Account and the Horse Racing Purse Dedication Account)
- Maryland’s Small, Minority and Women-owned Business Fund: $17.0 million
- Responsible Gaming Programs: $4.1 million
A large percentage of the revenue MGM National Harbor takes in is from Virginians, according to Surovell.
"There are other surrounding states that are cannibalizing Virginia's revenue for their own purposes," Suvovell told Patch in September. "I've long felt that Virginia ought to support casinos, so we stopped losing that opportunity."
Patch first reported on Sept. 25 that Comstock Companies wanted to build a casino at Reston Station, according to several local officials. A subsequent story revealed that Comstock made campaign contributions to State Sen. David Marsden (D-Burke) and Del. Wren Williams (R-Stuart).
Last January, those two lawmakers introduced and then quickly withdrew nearly identical bills that, if adopted by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, would have given Fairfax County the authority to put a casino-related referendum on an upcoming ballot. Voters would then decide whether to put a casino on one of the seven Silver Line Metro stations outside the Capital Beltway.
Read all of Patch's reporting on the proposed casino at the Wiehle-Reston East Station at Silver Line Casino.
In September and October, Comstock also hosted fundraisers at Reston Station for Marsden, Surovell, and Minority Leader Don Scott (D-Portsmouth). If the Democrats win back the House of Delegates in Tuesday's election, Scott will likely be the next speaker of the house and Surovell, who is the Democratic Party caucus leader, is expected to be the new majority leader in the Senate.
On Sept. 22, Patch reported that Comstock launched the Building a Remarkable Virginia PAC "to elect candidates committed to building a better Commonwealth," according to campaign finance filings reported by the nonprofit Virginia Public Access Project.
Between Oct. 5 and Oct. 18, eight Comstock employees ($49,500), 13 Comstock entities ($80,000), and 12 vendors ($115,000), primarily from the building and construction industry, donated a total of $244,500 to the new PAC, according to state financial records.
State Sen. David Marsden (D-Burke): $46,000
- $10,000 - Donation from Comstock Development Services LC on 6/22/2023
- $1,000 - Donation from Dylan Clemente on 10/7/23
- $24,000 - Donation from Building A Remarkable Virginia PAC on 10/23/23
- $10,000 - Donation from Christopher Clemente on 10/23/23
On Oct. 23, Building a Remarkable Virginia to Marsden, who also received $10,000 from Comstock CEO Chris Clemente the same day. On Oct. 7, Dylan Clemente, the company's vice president of parking management and facilities security services, donated another $1,000. Add all of that to a $10,000 donation made by Comstock Development Services LC on June 20, Marsden has received a total of $46,000 that can be traced back to the Reston-based developer.
Additionally, Building a Remarkable Virginia donated $41,000 to Virginia Future Generations, which is a Democratic Party leadership PAC controlled by House Minority Leader Scott.
Marsden told Patch on Wednesday that he, like Surovell, supported a casino being built in Northern Virginia to diversify the region's revenue base and to stem the effects of the declining commercial building market. He envisioned the creation of an entertainment district adjacent to the Silver Line that would include a conference center and performance space, anchored by a casino.
Building a casino on the Silver Line outside the Capital Beltway Beltway made sense, because planned office density was concentrated around the Metro stations there, he said.
Marsden told Patch in October that he would likely reintroduce the referendum bill in the next legislative session if he is re-elected on Tuesday. He is also expanding the referendum bill to include not just a casino, but also a conference center and performance space
When asked about, the $46,000 he received from Comstock this election cycle, Marsden said he was going to give it all away. He estimated that he'd given $250,000 to the Democrat Party caucus since 2022. The money went to help elect Democrats in both local and statewide races.
"All I'm trying to do is get the discussion started so that we can have options as to how to maintain our economic vibrancy here in Fairfax County," Marsden said. "That's what's important to me and it's important to me about the economic vibrancy of the rest of the state. That's why I'm working on other things to do that. You can't waste the majority. Right now, the things that I'm interested in, Republicans are no more interested in than the man in the moon.
