A Casino in Northern Virginia? Legislation Again Introduced to Bring Las Vegas to Fairfax County
Posted on: January 21, 2026, 04:07h.
Last updated on: January 21, 2026, 04:07h.
- Legislation seeks to permit a casino in Northern Virginia
- The casino bill would designate Fairfax County, specifically, Tysons, for casino gambling
For a fourth year in a row, legislation in Virginia has been introduced to permit a casino in Fairfax County.
Despite widespread local pushback, including an official opposition statement from the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, some state lawmakers in Richmond are tired of seeing many millions of annual tax dollars flow into Maryland because there isn’t a casino in Northern Virginia.
Senate Bill 756 comes from Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax). The bill would add Fairfax County to the list of localities eligible to host a casino in the commonwealth.
Faced with rising property taxes and mounting local government budget problems, which resulted in the county recently enacting a much-despised 4% meals surcharge that could devastate many small restaurants, Surovell says Fairfax needs new economic drivers.
“Fairfax County is facing a $130 million budget deficit, and they’re facing a deficit as far as the eye can see,” Surovell said last month. “[The county] constantly asks us for additional authority to raise revenue, and this would present a huge opportunity.”
With no casino in Northern Virginia, many take their gaming business to MGM National Harbor in nearby Oxon Hill, though the 20-mile drive from Fairfax can take an hour or longer due to traffic. This week, a scaled-back Las Vegas Sphere was announced for the MGM property.
Fairfax Casino Keeps Tysons Location
Surovell is following Sen. David Marsden (D-Fairfax), who previously championed the Fairfax County casino bills, in keeping the gaming development isolated to a single property site.
“A casino gaming establishment considered by Fairfax County shall be located within one-quarter of a mile of an existing station on the Metro Silver Line, part of a coordinated mixed-use project development consisting of no less than 1.5 million square feet, within two miles of a regional enclosed mall containing not less than 1.5 million square feet of gross building area, and outside of the Interstate 495 Beltway,” SB675 reads.
The location language is copied from previous Fairfax County casino bills. The specifics limit the casino to a 30-acre property next to the Adaire residential high-rise located between Spring Hill Rd. and Tyco Rd. at Leesburg Pike.
Opponents to the casino regularly cite state lobbying from Comstock Companies, a real estate developer that has been behind the gaming bills since day one. Comstock owns the property at 8546 Leesburg Pike, which is within the casino bill’s site language.
Renderings of what a casino would look like in Tysons uses likeness of Wynn Resorts properties. Wynn Resorts, however, told Casino.org in December that while it has talked with Comstock, nothing serious has materialized.
Quick Response
Surovell did not release a public statement on the 2026 Fairfax County casino bill. The many entities opposed did.
Recent polling shows that 75% of Fairfax County residents oppose a casino development in Tysons, and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has stated its opposition as part of its 2026 Legislative Package. This legislation clearly sets a troubling precedent for legislators in Richmond to override local land-use decisions despite strong community opposition,” the Tysons Stakeholders Alliance, a group opposed to the casino, wrote.
“ Reston Citizens Association and the No Fairfax Casino Coalition are not surprised to see Sen. Surovell push his agenda with yet another special purpose bill for a casino in Fairfax County,” said RCA president Lynne Mulston. “We are prepared to continue our opposition through grassroots engagement.”
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