State Rep. Beth Kerttula had eight years of firsthand experience sizing up the political qualifications of Ethan Berkowitz.

Kerttula, a five-term Juneau Democrat and daughter of longtime state senator Jay Kerttula, sat next to Berkowitz on the state House floor. She liked to joke he was the little brother she never wanted. When she replaced him last year as leader of the minority caucus, she tried to emulate him.

"Ethan is a tremendous leader," Kerttula said. "He's a natural leader. He's fun. He cares about people. He's all the good things a leader is and he has great compassion and perspective."

Berkowitz, 46, has his sights set on another legislative body.

He's taking on U.S. Rep. Don Young, the 35-year incumbent, for Alaska's only seat in the House of Representatives.

Alaska has not sent a Democrat to Congress since 1972 but Berkowitz says Alaska is ready for a new direction.

"The Republicans have been in charge and the problems have not been fixed," he said. "That's what sets the political climate for change."

Berkowitz, like Young, is a native Californian. He was born Feb. 4, 1962, in San Francisco. He earned a bachelor's degree in government and economics from Harvard, a master's degree in polar studies from Cambridge University in England and a law degree from the University of California Hastings College of Law in San Francisco.

His Ivy League pedigree is in stark contrast to Young, who promotes his rough and tumble image as necessary to be heard as one voice in the 435 of the U.S. House.

Berkowitz moved to Alaska in 1991 and clerked for the Alaska Court of Appeals.

He worked as a state prosecutor for two years. He was elected in 1996 to the state House from west Anchorage and served five terms.

He is not currently practicing law. He has a business interest in Anchorage's Snow City Cafe and a company that wants to develop low-cost renewable energy in rural Alaska communities.

He's married to another lawyer, Mara Kimmel, who teaches political science classes at the University of Alaska Anchorage. They have two children, Hannah, 7, and Noah, 4.

Berkowitz was Tony Knowles' running mate two years ago in Knowles' failed bid for a third term as governor.

As minority leader in the state House, Berkowitz was a regular source for reporters, the go-to guy for an articulate Democratic comment, often humorous.

When BP's top executive, John Browne, visited Juneau in April 1999 to reassure Alaska leaders that his company's planned takeover of Atlantic Richfield Co. would benefit Alaska, Berkowitz met him.

"He has a very powerful intellect and a clear vision of where he wants to go, which gives him a competitive advantage over the state," Berkowitz said.

Of former Gov. Frank Murkowski's insistence on buying a state jet in the face of opposition, Berkowitz said, "I think he's flying really high. Maybe there's oxygen deprivation going on."

Kerttula said Berkowitz's quick wit is a reflection of his skills as a prosecutor, being able to think on his feet, an asset when Democrats were outnumbered on the House floor, and when he didn't have a lot of bullets in his gun.

It was his job, Berkowitz said, to make a point and make it quickly.

"You can't do that consistently unless you know the issues," he said.

Young is vulnerable to a challenge on several fronts. The incumbent has been criticized within his own party for pork barrel spending. He's at odds with Gov. Sarah Palin over his failure to explain why he has spent more than $1 million in campaign donations on legal fees.

Both the House and the Senate requested an investigation of a Young earmark in the 2005 highway spending bill that would have benefited a Young campaign supporter. Young also has ties to former Veco Corp. CEO Bill Allen, who sponsored fundraisers for Young.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has hammered Young but Berkowitz has shown restraint. He said he wants to focus on issues.

"We trivialize what government is when we make it about personalities instead about issues and principles," he said. "If we're trying to restore public confidence in the public process, if we're trying to restore integrity to government, then you have to run the way you're going to lead."

Energy is the defining issue in the campaign, Berkowitz said, with Alaskans paying the highest prices in the nation, whether it's heating a home in Fairbanks, commuting to a job from the Matanuska-Susitna Borough to Anchorage, or coping with the crushing prices of gas and heating oil in rural villages.

Solutions are in Alaska, he said, including natural resources that extend beyond fossil fuels. America must commit to research and innovation on wind, geothermal and solar energy.

"This is the time to harken back to what Kennedy said. He said 'We're going to put a man on the moon in 10 years.' It's got to have that kind of concerted, directed, national effort."

Like Young, he plans to push for a natural gas pipeline and for opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development. Both presidential candidates in the major parties oppose opening ANWR. Berkowitz said a new approach -- changing the votes of Democrats in Congress -- might be successful.

"Let's stop preaching to the choir, because we keep going to the Republicans. Let's go to the people who need to be persuaded," he said. "The strategy this state has embarked on doesn't work."

Alaska should be appealing to America to open ANWR as a security issue and to shore up national debt.