"You remember how far behind I was in the primary? If I win this race I'll be very thankful. If I don't win this race then that's how it's going to be," Young said in an interview last week as he campaigned in Anchorage.

People were starting to write Young's political obituary last spring after Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell -- backed by Gov. Sarah Palin -- jumped into the Republican primary. Young seemed energized by the challenge and, with the help of a third Republican splitting the vote and a lackluster campaign by Parnell, skated to victory in August by a margin of 304 votes out of around 100,000 cast statewide.

Democrat Ethan Berkowitz, who was 11 years old when Young first went to Congress in 1973, is trying to finish the job of sending the congressman packing. Berkowitz has help from national Democratic commercials and mailers labeling Young as corrupt.

It's a race where both candidates go to lengths to claim the high road. But slams are plenty, whether it be through the Democratic attacks or Young's recent implication he has dirt on Berkowitz but won't share.

"I could bring up all kinds of things about Ethan, but I haven't. He's not purely an angel; he thinks he is but he's not," Young said on public television last week.

Berkowitz charges Young with a bullying style past its expiration date. The former minority leader of the Alaska House, Berkowitz said this is a time of change with a new Congress and a new president.

"If it's President Obama, I've got good relationships with the Obama campaign," said Berkowitz, interviewed during a campaign swing in Kodiak last week. "If it's Vice President Palin, unlike Don Young, I have a good relationship with her too."

Young, 75, said his style is passion for the state, and that he has the seniority, the connections, and a proven track record. Alaska only gets one congressman, he said, and a freshman Berkowitz would be lost in the sea of 435 House members.

"I don't say anything bad about Ethan. I really don't believe he understands the state of Alaska yet; he might learn it later on," Young said.

RACE COULD BE A SQUEAKER

Young said he's run in tough races before and this is no different. But Mike Anderson, Young's campaign spokesman and chief of staff, conceded it's an uphill battle.

"Our polling shows, yes, that we're behind," Anderson said last week. "Our internal polling shows we're about 5 points behind. ... the race is going to be tight, the race is going to be close at the end of the day."

Marc Hellenthal, an Anchorage pollster and campaign consultant who has worked for Young in the past but isn't working for either candidate at the moment, said his polling shows Young more like 10 points down going into the end.

He said the problem for Young is that "over the years, he has irritated every year a few percent more and a few percent more; he just hasn't worn well over time."

"It's Young beating Young," Hellenthal said. "That isn't to detract from Berkowitz, it's just that if you change Berkowitz out with anybody who was credible Young would lose."

Anchorage pollster and political researcher Jean Craciun is skeptical. She said she hasn't polled the race herself but thinks it will be very close.

"I think the situation is that people don't know Berkowitz in the rural areas and outside areas as well as people know Don Young. ... Don's losing a lot from the urban centers left and right but I don't think he's losing ground in the rural areas and the Mat-Su Valley. And the valley is so huge right now to all of our elections in Alaska," Craciun said.

NATIONAL DEMOCRATS SEND MONEY

The national Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has spent $1.4 million so far trying to beat Young. The cash-strapped National Republican Congressional Committee isn't running any of its own ads in the race.

The Democrats are running television advertisement and sending out mailers calling Young "too corrupt for Alaska." The ads claim Young is under four separate investigations -- covering ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, a convicted Wisconsin trucking executive, and the oilfield services company Veco as well as the circumstances surrounding an earmark he secured for Florida.

Young's chief of staff said there's no way the Democrats could know Young is under four investigations. "The FBI obviously is investigating Mr. Young for something. As to exactly what those somethings are, we have not been told specifically," Anderson said.

"We don't even know what kind of investigation, or quote, how many they have, unquote" Anderson said. "It's pure speculation."

Young reported spending more than $1.2 million in campaign funds on legal fees between the first quarter of 2007 and June of this year but has declined to explain what the expenditures were for specifically. Anderson has said Young's lawyers review issues including whether congressional documents are protected under the Constitution from executive branch review, or whether they must be turned over to federal investigators.

Young said he's done nothing wrong and the ads are garbage. The talk of an investigation has gone on for nearly two years, Young said, with no charges filed against him. He said the ads show Berkowitz's claim of a clean campaign is a sham.

"If he wants the job so badly that he'll fall back and let those sleazeballs run those ads, then that shows me a little bit of weakness of character," Young said.

Berkowitz, when told what Young said about his character, started to fire back, saying "I don't think Don Young is in the position ..." before stopping himself. He said he's not legally allowed to coordinate with the DCCC on its ads and can't do anything about them.

The DCCC listed a Washington government watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, as its source for the itemizing of the four investigations. CREW cited news articles and a blog, some of which relied on anonymous sources and are more than a year old. Yoni Cohen, spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said the Democrats stand by the ads and they source "the latest available press reports."

THE STEVENS EFFECT

Hellenthal, the pollster who has Young 10 points down, said the congressman's fortunes could be tied to the verdict in the trial of Alaska Republican Sen. Ted Stevens. Hellenthal said that, if Stevens is cleared, there could be a backlash by voters who say that if the Justice Department wrongfully prosecuted Stevens, then Young, who hasn't been charged, deserves support.

The biggest issue in the campaign has been whether Young or Berkowitz would be more effective for the state, although the candidates have also sparred over Young's vote against the congressional banking bailout. Berkowitz is campaigning on change, and says there would be benefits for Alaska having a member of the Democratic majority. Berkowitz also says he would have a better chance to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling than the 18-term incumbent, saying Young had his chance and has fallen short.

Young said he's passed ANWR drilling through the House 10 times and it would be law if Democratic President Bill Clinton had not vetoed the bill. He says Berkowitz would have to follow the orders of Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California. Young ads depict a madly grinning Pelosi as the prize Alaskans stand to get from a slot machine if they gamble and replace him with Berkowitz. The response from Berkowitz is that he's independent, would look out for Alaska, and can't wait to tell Pelosi she's wrong on ANWR.

Young, like Stevens, has dominated a generation of Alaska politics. He first went to Washington, D.C., in the Watergate era, before many of his present-day constituents were born. It was the time the trans-Alaska oil pipeline was being debated in Congress.

"The day after I got sworn in, we had the first hearing on the trans-Alaskan pipeline. The next day, (Arizona Rep.) Sam Steiger came to me and says, 'You're going to introduce a bill that precludes any lawsuits period.' And we passed that legislation," Young said. "And that was all done in the minority."

Berkowitz concedes Young did some good in the past, but argued he's no longer an effective voice. He said reason is needed to press Alaska's case for federal funding and development of its resources, not bluster and intimidation.

"We've got at some point to start building for the future and the time is now. Because if we don't change now we risk falling further behind and that is not acceptable," he said.

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Find Sean Cockerham online at adn.com/contact/scockerham or call him at 257-4344.

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Candidates face off

Upcoming forums and debates where Young and Berkowitz are scheduled to appear together in person.

• TODAY -- KTUU-Channel 2 debate, 6-7 p.m., Wendy Williamson Auditorium, UAA.

• MONDAY -- Anchorage Chamber of Commerce noon forum.

• WEDNESDAY -- Kenai-Soldotna Chamber of Commerce noon debate at the Kenai Merit Inn.

• THURSDAY -- Alaska Public Broadcasting debate at 8 p.m. in the KAKM television studios.