Michael O’Connell,Patch Staff
MCLEAN, VA — Comstock Holding Companies has spent more than $1. 4 million in its efforts to persuade lawmakers in Richmond to pass legislation that would pave the way for a casino to be built in Tysons.
From Jan. 1, 2022 to Jan. 31, 2024, Comstock Holdings, its employees, allies and entities made a total of $1,247,993 in contributions to state and local political candidates and political action committees, according to campaign finance reports filed with the State Board of Elections and reportered by the Virginia Public Access Project.
Since Feb. 1, the Reston-based developer has spent an additional $271,128 on lobbyiing efforts and political contributions. Altogether, Comstock and its associates have spent $1.519,121 to date, according to their financial filings with the state.
Related: Tysons Casino Discussion Now Virtual Due To Winter Weather: NAACP
On Wednesday, the Virginia General Assembly will convene for the 2025 legislative session. Prefiling of bills will end at 10 a.m. and lawmakers have until Jan. 17 to submit new legislation.
In September 2023, Comstock Holdings created the Building a Remarkable Virginia political action committee to make contributions to state and local lawmakers. As of Sunday, the PAC has contributed $477,900 to the committees of state and local politicians, according to the VPAP.
In December, Building a Remarkable Virginia PAC contributed $62,000 to the campaign committees of three legislators: Sen. Scott Surovell (D-Mount Vernon), the senate majority leader; Del. Don Scottt (D-Portsmouth), the speaker of the house; and Del. Luke Torian (D-Dumfries), who chairs the House Appropriations Committee with Del. Mark Sickles.
“It’s not uncommon for businesses, corporations or what have you to give support to legislators,” Torian told Patch. “My being the chair of appropriations is going to be focused on getting through the budget process in this short session.”
During the 2023 and 2024 legislative sessions, Sen. David Marsden (D-Burke) submitted casino referendum bills. But, Surovell told Patch in December that he would be carrying the casino referendum bill this session instead of Marsden.
Related: $755K Spent To Defeat Tysons Casino Referendum Bill By MGM Resorts
Patch has reached out to Scott requesting comment concerning the $20,000 donation. His response will be added to this story once it’s received.
The same month Comstock launched its PAC it created Comstock Hospitality LLC, a business entity that has donated a total of $65,200 to various political action and candidate committees in 2024, according to state campaign finance filings.
Between May 20 and June 6, 2024, five Comstock employees and Comstock Partners LC, a private real estate investment company led by Comstock CEO Chris Clemente and his father-in-law Dwight Schar, made campaign contributions to State Sen. Bryce Reeves (R-Fredericksburg) and paid for a May 30 dinner, which the Bryce reported on his campaign finance filings.
During the 2024 legislative session, Reeves was the chief sponsor of Senate Bill 628, which:
“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 a 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.”
This legislation came after voters in Richmond failed to support two casino referendums in two straight elections.
Reeves also chaired the Virginia Gaming Commission Subcommittee in 2024 and was chief co-patron on SB397, which required any business authorized to sell Virginia Lottery tickets or conduct charitable gaming, horse racing with pari-mutuel wagering, and casino gaming to post the toll-free telephone number and website of the illegal gaming tip line.
Patch reached out to Reeves requesting a comment about the donations. This story will be updated once his response is received.
A Safer Virginia PAC is a political action committee for Virginia’s incumbent Attorney General Jason Miyares and Virginia Future Generations PAC is a PAC associated with Speaker of the House Don Scott (D-Portsmouth).
In addition to making political contributions, Comstock Hospitality retained 12 lobbyists to represent their interests during the 2025 session.
Lobbyists are required to file annual financial reports with the Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council after the legislative session in which they worked. The deadline to file is June 30. For that reason, information about how much Comstock Hospitalities spent to compensate these 12 lobbyists won’t be available until the end of June.
Related: Tysons Casino Backer Makes $75K In Political Donations Since January
However, the five lobbyists who represented Comstock in Richmond during the 2024 legislative session did file financial reports last June. They received a combined total of $52,513 for their work.
If passed, a casino referendum would give the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors the authority to put a referendum on a future ballot, letting voters decide whether to build a casino in Tysons.
Fairfax County Board Chair Jeff McKay (D) wrote a letter in January to leaders in the general assembly saying the board did not ask for that authority.
Only Supervisors Walter Alcorn (D-Hunter Mill) and Jimmy Bierman (D-Dranesville), who represent parts of the Tysons area, have spoken openly about their opposition to the proposed casino and the remaining board members have remained silent.
The following donations were made to the Building a Remarkable Virginia PAC since the beginning of 2024 and are not included in the total above. They are shared here to show where the money that the PAC used to make its political contributions came from.
Patch acknowledges that Comstock, its employees, associates, partners, 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 Holdings, its employees, associates, partners, family members or any others who contributed to the Building a Remarkable Virginia, other political action committees, or candidates running for office did anything illegal.