Casino Developer Donates $180K As Push For Bill Begins
RESTON, VA — In the days leading up to Wednesday’s start of the 2024 Virginia General Assembly session, casino proponent Christopher Clemente, CEO of Comstock Holding Companies, contributed $180,000 to his company’s political action committee, according to state campaign finance reports.
Patch first reported last September that Comstock was planning to build a casino on Metro’s Silver Line outside the Capital Beltway in Fairfax County. Since the beginning of 2023, Clemente, his company and its PAC have made more than $637,000 in political contributions in support of the developer’s effort to build a casino at or near the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station in Reston.
On Sept. 22, the company formed the Building a Remarkable Virginia PAC with $244,000 in donations, including $129,5o0 from Clemente family members, Comstock employees and limited liability companies run by the Reston-based developer, according to the LLC’s statement of organization filed with the Virginia Board of Elections on Sept. 22. .
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Below are the political contributions made by the Building a Remarkable Virginia PAC in 2024:
TOTAL: $115,000 In total, Clemente, his company and its PAC contributed $522,975 to the campaigns of state and local candidates running for office in 2023. That included contributions made to single issue or political party committees. Adding in the $115,000 in donations made in 2024, the developer has made $637,975 in political contributions since January 2023. With the $10,000 donation from Comstock’s PAC to his political committee on Jan. 7, State Sen. Scott Surovell (D-Mount Vernon) has received a total of $95,000 in contributions from the developer since January 2023.
Following the Nov. 7, 2023 election, Democrats elected Surovell to succeed former Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw (D-Fairfax), who opted not to seek re-election. One of Surovell’s responsibilities is to make committee assignments. Patch reported in September that Clemente and his father-in-law Dwight Schar, a former owner of the Washington Commanders and founder of NVR, Inc., had hosted a fundraiser for Surovell and Sen. Dave Marsden (D-Burke) on Sept. 19, 2023 at Reston Station. To date, Marsden’s campaign committee has received $35,000 in contributions from Comstock-related sources, according to state campaign finance reports. Marsden and Del. Wren Williams (R-Stuart) introduced nearly identical bills (SB 1543/HB 2479) in January 2023 that, if passed and signed by the governor, would’ve given the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors the authority to put a casino referendum bill on a future ballot. The two bills were withdrawn within a few days. Marsden told Patch numerous times last fall that he planned to introduce an expanded casino referendum bill during the 2024 session. The state senator said in a phone interview on Friday that he was planning to introduce the bill sometime this week. As of 9 a.m. on Wednesday, no bill had surfaced. Virginia legislators have until Jan. 19 to submit a bill for the current session. During the 2023 session, Marsden was the chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, but Sen. Jennifer Boysko (D-Herndon) was chosen to chair that committee in 2024. Both Marsden and Surovell are still members of the committee. Sen. Todd Pillion (D-Abington), who received a $15,000 contribution from the Building a Better Virginia PAC on Jan. 1, is also on the transportation committee. Mamie Locke (D-Hampton), whose campaign committee received a $10,000 contribution from Building a Remarkable Virginia on Jan. 5, will chair the Senate Rules Committee and serve as a member of the Education and Health, Finance and Appropriations, General Laws and Technology, and Rehabilitation and Social Services committees. Sen. Lamont Bagby (D-Richmond), whose Friends of Lamont Bagby committee received a $10,000 donation on Jan. 5 from Comstock’s PAC, has not been assigned to a committee as of 9 a.m. on Wednesday. Del. Luke Torian (D-Dumfries), whose Friends of Luke Torian committee received a $10,000 donation from Comstock’s PAC on Jan. 5, 2024, will chair the House Appropriations Committee during the 2024 session. Sen. Bryce Reeves (D-Spotsylvania), whose campaign committee received $10,000 from Building a Remarkable Virginia on Jan. 3, will serve on four committees in the House of Delegates during the 2024 session: General Laws and Technology, Local Government, Privileges and Elections, and Rehabilitation and Social Services. 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. 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.
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