Anchorage Daily News

For years, Democrats struggled to find credible candidates willing to challenge the well-funded and entrenched Alaska Republican Congressman Don Young.

But times have changed with Young under federal investigation. Two Democratic candidates with bona fides are competing in their party's primary Tuesday for the right to battle for his seat in the November general election.

Ethan Berkowitz has the national Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on his side and a background of 10 years serving in the state Legislature. His Democratic primary opponent, Diane Benson, took on Young two years ago, before the congressman was considered potentially vulnerable, and came closer to beating him than any Democrat since the early 1990s.

"I want to finish what I started," said Benson, who collected more than 40 per cent of the vote in 2006 with a fraction of the campaign money that Young had.

Berkowitz spent eight years as the Democratic minority leader of the state House.

"I've got the experience to be effective in Washington, D.C. I've got the proven track record for what I stood up for in Juneau and I've been talking about the issue that's most on the minds of Alaskans," Berkowitz said.

Berkowitz was talking about energy, which he calls the defining issue of the time. In addition to a gas pipeline and more oil, he enthuses about Alaska having wind potential, more geothermal than the rest of the country put together and 90 percent of America's tidal potential. "I want to be the person who goes to Washington, D.C., spreads that word. I have the ability to do that, I have the will to do it," Berkowitz said.

Katie Hurley, a former Democratic legislator and a participant in the Alaska constitutional convention, said it's a stronger Democratic primary field in the U.S. House race than in the past. Hurley said she probably won't know which candidate she's voting for until she gets into the voting booth on Tuesday.

"It's good to have competition," she said.

CAMPAIGN MONEY

Benson, 53, said she's always been an advocate, a lifelong Alaskan who's been a truck driver, represented clients as a paralegal with Alaska legal services, and co-produced films and videos on Alaska issues. "I think we have too many career politicians serving in Congress and that hasn't benefited the people," she said.

Berkowitz, 45, has far more campaign funds than Benson. But she's making an issue of some of his campaign contributors, and has been calling on him to return money from lobbyists including Ashley Reed, who was recently charged with criminal misdemeanors for allegedly chronically filing late state lobbying disclosure reports.

"I say, let's set the boundaries in campaigns, that way you've got a precedent before you even go into office -- you're not bought," Benson said.

Berkowitz responded that there's a lot of ways to assure the public the influence of money is minimized.

"All people have to do is look at my record. I'm a guy who stood up to corporate influence time and again when I was in the state Legislature," Berkowitz said during a candidate debate this week.

Berkowitz talks about how he rose on the floor of the state House and denounced oilfield service company Veco's attempts to influence state legislation. That was in May 2006 -- months before the FBI investigation into Veco bribery of lawmakers burst into public view with the raids on legislative offices.

Berkowitz took his own swipe at Benson in a recent debate, saying she "should have some regrets about helping to elect (Republican) Frank Murkowski" governor in 2002 by taking away votes from Democratic candidate Fran Ulmer.

Benson, who ran for governor on the Green Party ticket that year, said she doesn't have any regrets and didn't influence the outcome of the race. Murkowski beat Ulmer 129,279 votes to 94,216 votes. Benson brought in 2,926 votes, according to the state Division of Election.

Benson dismissed a recent Ivan Moore Research poll showing Berkowitz beating her easily, noting Moore is a friend of Berkowitz' who has raised money for his campaign.

"I did talk to a high powered lobbyist who had done a poll for whoever his client was and the only thing he was willing to tell me is it was extremely close," she said.

Benson has made veterans' rights a major issue for her campaign. Her son lost his legs in Iraq, and she's said her time spent watching his recovery and talking with other injured vets has helped shape many of her ideas.

"I am very strong on civil liberties and veterans, with a passion that nobody else has," she said.

Berkowitz' campaign theme is often about optimism.

"We can't continue along a path that saw politics be about anger and despair and division. We need to go to a kind of politics that's about hope and reason," he said.

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

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