"Walter Fore, president of the Central Virginia Labor Council, announced the endorsement of the Virginia AFL-CIO of the candidacy of Allen M. Hale, the Democratic challenger: to Delegate Watkins Abbitt for the 59th District Seat in the House of Delegates. Abbitt left the Democratic party when district lines were redrawn in 2001 and now runs as an independent.

Hale said, "I am gratified to receive the Labor Council's endorsement, and I want the working men and women of Central Virginia to know that I will be proud to work on their behalf in the General Assembly.

"The role of organized labor in representing the interests of workers becomes ever more crucial in the face of larger and more powerful corporations which have come to dominate our economy."

Hale is a land surveyor in Nelson County and former chair of the Nelson County Democratic Committee. The 59th district includes Nelson and three other counties and parts of Albemarle, Fluvanna and Prince Edward counties." (The Observer, September 3, 2003)