痴颈谤驳颈苍颈补鈥檚 addressed issues ranging from education to transgender rights during a Thursday night debate in Prince William County, the last time all the candidates will appear together in public ahead of the June 17 primary.
Although the candidates shared common ground on many progressive priorities, the biggest point of contention was a proposal to allow a casino in Fairfax County's Tysons Corner 鈥 one of the few issues that revealed a real divide among the field.
痴颈谤驳颈苍颈补鈥檚 Democratic candidates for lieutenant governor are, from top row, left to right, Alex Bastani, Ghazala Hashmi, Babur Lateef, Aaron Rouse, Victor Salgado and Levar Stoney.
The winner of the Democratic primary will face Republican nominee John Reid in the November general election. 痴颈谤驳颈苍颈补鈥檚 lieutenant governor presides over the Senate and is first in line to succeed the governor.
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Victor Salgado, a federal prosecutor and law professor, came out of the gate criticizing Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, and Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, for their votes this year on legislation that would have added Fairfax County to the list of Virginia localities eligible to develop a casino. The measure ultimately failed.
鈥淯nfortunately, we have Senator Hashmi, Senator Rouse, who are financing their campaigns with big casino money, with skill gaming money, and it's no surprise, of course, that they would vote to bring none other than Steve Wynn, Donald Trump's good friend, into Northern Virginia to build a casino that nobody asked for, and that Tysons and that Northern Virginians don't want,鈥 Salgado said.
鈥淚t's important that we reform our campaign finance laws, because they did this knowing that we would have to carry Northern Virginia, and they jeopardize our electoral prospects just so that they can service their patrons in the casino industry. Integrity, folks, matters all of the time, not just some of the time.鈥
During this year's General Assembly session, Senate Finance Chair Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, hoped Virginia would legalize electronic skill games in stores, restaurants and truck stops, but the House 鈥 and governor 鈥 opposed the idea. Gov. Glenn Youngkin and many House Democrats say the next step should be creation of a Virginia Gaming Commission to consolidate all forms of legal gaming in the state.
Rouse's campaign has received more than $100,000 from skill game operators and related entities, including $47,500 from VA Operators for Skill, $37,500 from Virginia Skill Game PAC and $30,000 from Republic Amusements, according to his .听
Hashmi received $2,000 last year from the Virginia Skill Game PAC. She also received a $15,000 donation through her state Senate campaign account from Christopher Guthrie, the chief financial officer and executive vice president of Comstock Holdings 鈥 a prominent player in the casino push 鈥 and $10,000 from the company itself.
Rouse is a strong supporter of skill games and introduced legislation last year that sought to legalize them. Hashmi has not taken a firm stance on skill games in her campaigning or legislatively.
Salgado did not mention Levar Stoney, the former mayor of Richmond, who in the , an operator of electronic skill games that has pushed for their legalization in Virginia.
Stoney, who fought for a casino in Richmond that city voters rejected in referendums in 2021 and 2023, said he does not support a casino in Tysons Corner because it鈥檚 not what residents want.
鈥淎m I open to a casino in Northern Virginia? Yes. But is this the site? No,鈥 Stoney said.
Hashmi said that when she considers legislation in the state Senate, she does so through the eyes of working families.
鈥淚 will support a legislation that provides good union jobs, that enables an economy to grow robustly and expand our middle class, an opportunity for families to live in areas where normally the cost of living would be prohibitive, an opportunity for working families to let their children go to excellent schools in areas that they would otherwise not be able to,鈥 she said.
Rouse served on the Virginia Beach City Council from 2019 through 2022, before he was first elected to the Senate in January 2023. He said Thursday that it's important to understand 鈥渢he entirety of the issue鈥 regarding casinos and skill games and noted that when he served in local government, he didn鈥檛 like Richmond telling him what to do.
鈥淚 supported legislation giving the localities the option to decide to put on a referendum to decide whether or not they will want a casino,鈥 Rouse said. 鈥淭he other part of that is also supporting our workers, supporting our labor unions, making sure they have good, high-paying jobs, so they can take care of their families, so they can make sure that Virginia's economy becomes No. 1.鈥
Prince William County School Board Chair Babur Lateef is strongly against a Tysons casino and is also against skill games.
鈥淚 am 100% opposed to slot machines in your local 7-Eleven, video poker machines in the restaurants in your neighborhoods,鈥 Lateef said. 鈥淭hey are designed to make children addicted and to be predatory among those who are the most vulnerable. These are not the ideas we need to generate our Virginia economy.鈥
Alex Bastani, a longtime labor leader, is against a casino at Tysons Corner, but not against casinos in general; he said it depends on each community鈥檚 needs. On skill gaming, he said it should come down to local authority.
鈥淚'm not a fan of gambling. However, I believe that the skill game rules should be up to localities,鈥 Bastani said. 鈥淥ne of the reasons we've lost power in this country is because of the condescending attitude of the economic elite.
"It's not my position as a Northern Virginian to tell someone in Lynchburg that they shouldn't have skill gaming at their local 7-Eleven.鈥
