The Virginia General Assembly convened for its 2024 legislative session on Wednesday, and later this week, a bill seeking to designate Petersburg as a qualified casino host city is expected to be filed.
Virginia Del. Kim Taylor, a Republican, is hopeful 2024 is the year when Petersburg is allowed to mull a casino resort. After Richmond voters for a second time rejected a casino pitch, some Virginia lawmakers are jockeying to bring the gaming project to their districts. (Image: WRIC Richmond)Petersburg wasn t one of the five cities that Virginia lawmakers in 2020 allowed to mull a commercial casino project to spark their regional economies. But after Richmond twice rejected casino proposals, state efforts have ensued to relocate the capital city s gaming opportunity roughly 25 miles south to Petersburg.
Del. Kim Taylor (R-Dinwiddie), whose county encompasses Petersburg, has helped spearhead the Petersburg casino push since Richmonders first rejected a casino in 2021. Taylor believes a new legislative makeup in the Richmond capital presents better odds for Petersburg being allowed to ask its city residents if they wish to allow a gaming resort to come to town.
We re in a totally different climate, Taylor told The Progress-Index. The Republicans are now the minority, but carrying the casino referendum legislation last session, I really had a chance to get to know the delegates and different lobbyists. We re going to continue to build on that. Then, of course, we got a lot of new people. There s going to be building new relationships.
The biggest change related to a is that state Sen. Joe Morrissey (D-Petersburg) is no longer in office after being defeated in last June s Democratic primary.
Morrissey, who co-led the Petersburg casino push with Taylor, was a controversial lawmaker who had plenty of opponents in Richmond. His Assembly tenure also faced controversy when it was revealed he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old, who would later become his wife. Morrissey married Myrna Pride in 2016 when she was 20 and he was 59.
Taylor was also almost ousted during November s election after narrowly defeating her Republican challenger by just 53 votes.
Better OddsTaylor believes Morrissey s exit might improve the odds of a Petersburg casino bill gaining adequate support in Richmond.
She says personal grudges stalled her and Morrissey s legislative effort last year, when Sen. President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) for championing casino legislation for years said Virginia has enough casinos with the four already approved through local referendums.
Lucas was a longtime foe of Morrissey. Taylor said she was disappointed when Lucas mothballed her and Morrissey s casino bill last year after it in February 2023.
Casino License FightLucas said after Richmond voters rejected a casino proposal for the second time last November that the capital city s gaming efforts should be officially over. Virginia lawmakers should consider reallocating the license, she said.
The Cordish Companies, a Baltimore-based gaming operator with casinos in Maryland and Pennsylvania, has expressed interest in partnering with Petersburg on a possible casino opportunity. A separate legislative push in of the state is also expected to field a considerable fight for the Richmond license.
Virginia Sen. David Marsden (D-Burke) and Del. Wren Williams (R-Stuart) believe the state should allow a casino in Northern Virginia, the wealthiest part of the commonwealth, to stop the flow of gaming .
While there is support in Petersburg for a casino, with Mayor Sam Parham being among the project s biggest cheerleaders, there has been widespread opposition in Vienna and McClean to a possible gaming development in Fairfax.
