More Labor Money for Va. Democrats

Organized labor continues to play a major role in bankrolling the Virginia Democratic Party.

On Monday, the Treasury Employees Democracy in Action committee gave the state party $15,000.

The organization is made up of federal employees. Since Sept. 1, the state party has collected more than $625,000 from organized labor for its state account. Labor unions also contributed tens of thousands dollars to the party's federal efforts this year in support of President-elect Barck Obama and Senator-Elect Mark R. Warner.

The volume of money the party is collecting from labor could certainly become a campaign issue in 2009, given Virginia's status as a right-to-work state. Virginia Republicans are already asking what, if anything, the labor unions hope to accomplish by pouring so much money into the state party.