Warner Refuses to Back Fairfax Casino, Puts Spanberger and Earle-Sears in Hot Seat

"I don’t hear a groundswell of community support, matter of fact I hear much more community opposition."

This afternoon, U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia) called into The Politics Hour with Kojo Nnamdi on WAMU. After discussing Wednesday’s tragic plane crash, Kojo’s resident analyst Tom Sherwood asked Warner about the proposed Fairfax casino project.

Here’s part of the exchange:

Tom Sherwood [15:50]: What is your position, do you think, even if it passes the legislature?

Senator Warner [15:53]: My position, Tom, is I’ve heard from lots of residents in Northern Virginia who are very concerned about this. I’ve not heard yet the presentation from the pro-casino people, but you know, and I want to hear this out. I mean, I don’t hear a groundswell of community support, matter of fact I hear much more community opposition. I wanna hear the other side.

Tom Sherwood [16:15]: Do you have a personal view?

Senator Warner [16:16]: If I was still governor, I would have to answer this question straight out. You know, at the end of the day, I think these ought to be…you’re not going to be successful unless you got broad-based community support.

Tom Sherwood [16:30]: Are you opposed, personally, are you opposed to it unless the proponents can tell you otherwise?

Senator Warner [16:39]: Well, that would be where I’m headed, but I feel like, again, I got a pretty long record. I want to hear out both sides before I take a position. I will say, I would also say this, I’m not per se against gambling. I’m pretty much…people ought to do…but we also ought to recognize that disproportionately folks without the means end up spending too much.

It’s frankly surprising that Warner hasn’t heard the pro-casino argument, considering many Virginia Senate Democrats have already voted for the bill this session, and considering Warner’s connections to Northern Virginia moneyed interests.

It’s not at all surprising, however, that Warner has heard “from lots of residents in Northern Virginia who are very concerned.” As Warner noted: “I don’t hear a groundswell of community support, matter of fact I hear much more community opposition.”

Most interesting, however, was Warner’s suggestion that the issue is gubernatorial: “If I was still governor, I would have to answer this question straight out,” Warner remarked.

In his State of the Commonwealth address a couple weeks ago, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) emphasized the need to stand up the Virginia Gaming Commission this session. While he didn’t explicitly address the Fairfax casino legislation, many have read opposition into this line from the speech:

“Let’s focus our efforts this session on building a world-class regulatory body, and not on one-off bills pushed by special interest groups.”

But we haven’t heard from this year’s candidates (so far) for governor: Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R) and former Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D). It’s surprising that Earle-Sears hasn’t come out in opposition to a casino in Fairfax, since there doesn’t seem to be much - if any - support for it from local Republicans.

Spanberger, on the other hand, is remaining mum, apparently treating this issue like so many others and leaving it up to the voters to imagine her position.

And as usual, it’s the voters who suffer the candidates’ silence, yearning for leaders who, as Warner put it, are willing to state their positions “straight out.”