Ethan Avram Berkowitz (born February 4, 1962) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician from Alaska. From 1997 to 2007 he was the Alaska State Representative for District 26, serving as the Democratic Party Minority Leader from 1999 to 2007. He was the Democratic nominee for

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, for Alaska's at-large congressional district in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, and for governor in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

. He was elected mayor of Anchorage in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, and reelected in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

. Berkowitz resigned as mayor of

Anchorage Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

in October 2020 after admitting to being in a "consensual, inappropriate messaging relationship" with a reporter.

Early life and education

Berkowitz was born to a Jewish family in San Francisco, California. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in government and economics from Harvard College in 1983, a

MPhil The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil m ...

polar studies Polar may refer to: Geography Polar may refer to: * Geographical pole, either of two fixed points on the surface of a rotating body or planet, at 90 degrees from the equator, based on the axis around which a body rotates *Polar climate, the cli ...

from Cambridge University in 1986, and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the Hastings College of Law in 1990. He moved to Alaska after graduating from law school, and has worked as an attorney and business owner.

Political career

Alaska House of Representatives

Berkowitz was the

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

minority leader in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1999 to 2007. He was first elected to represent District 26 (

) in 1996 and reelected in 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2004.

2006 campaign

In the

2006 election The following elections occurred in the year 2006. * Elections in 2006 * Electoral calendar 2006 * 2006 Acehnese regional election * 2006 American Samoan legislative election * 2006 Bahraini parliamentary election * 2006 Costa Rican presidential ...

Berkowitz was the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor of Alaska, running with gubernatorial nominee Tony Knowles. Knowles and Berkowitz were defeated in the general election by

Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 R ...

and

Don Young Donald Edwin Young (June 9, 1933 – March 18, 2022) was an American politician from the state of Alaska. At the time of his death, he was the longest-serving Republican in congressional history, having been the U.S. representative for for ...

, who was seeking his 19th term in Congress. Berkowitz defeated

Diane Benson Diane E. Benson (born May 10, 1954) is an Alaskan politician, writer and dramatist. She was the 2010 Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor of Alaska, defeating three other opponents in the Democratic primary. Benson's running mate for gove ...

in the August 26 Democratic primary by a substantial margin. The initial results from the general election on November 4, 2008, showed Young leading the race, but with many absentee and provisional ballots left to be counted, the race was not called. On November 12 the media declared that Young had been reelected. Berkowitz conceded defeat on November 18, after counting of absentee and provisional ballots had mostly been completed and Young had a clearly insurmountable lead. Ultimately Young received 50% of the vote to Berkowitz's 45%. Berkowitz received more votes in 2008 (142,560) than any Democrat who had ever run against Young for Congress, and came the closest any Democrat had to unseating Young since 1990, when John Devens of Valdez received 48% of the vote.

2010 campaign

In December 2008 Berkowitz said he was considering challenging Young again in

, but in July 2009 he said he would not run and was instead considering challenging Governor

. Berkowitz entered the race following Palin's resignation in July 2009 and on August 24, 2010, he defeated State Senator

Hollis S. French Hollis S. French II (born October 11, 1958) is an American attorney, businessman and politician. He served in the Alaska Senate from 2003 to 2015. He was minority leader from January 2014 until he left office. During this time, French authored an ...

for the Democratic nomination. Incumbent Republican Governor

Sean Parnell Sean Randall Parnell (born November 19, 1962) is an American attorney and politician. He succeeded Sarah Palin in July 2009 to become the tenth governor of Alaska and served until 2014.Diane E. Benson Diane E. Benson (born May 10, 1954) is an Alaskan politician, writer and dramatist. She was the 2010 Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor of Alaska, defeating three other opponents in the Democratic primary. Benson's running mate for gove ...

in the November general election, 59% to 38%.

2015 mayoral campaign

Berkowitz ran for mayor of

. He finished ahead of the rest of the field in the nonpartisan primary on April 7, advancing to a runoff with Assemblywoman Amy Demboski. Endorsed by the third-place finisher, former Republican state representative

Andrew Halcro Andrew Halcro (born September 20, 1964) is an American politician from Anchorage, Alaska. Formerly a Republican member of the Alaska House of Representatives, he ran for Governor of Alaska as an independent candidate in the 2006 election, pla ...

, he won the May 5 runoff election by a 19-point margin. Comments Berkowitz had made on the ''Bernadette and Berkowitz Show'' attracted controversy. In the context of a debate on October 13, 2014, with co-host Bernadette Wilson over same-sex marriage, Berkowitz had said, "I support the idea of adults being able to choose who they have a relationship with. Father and son should be allowed to marry, if they’re both consenting adults—if you’re defining marriage as the bundle of rights and privileges that’s now accrued to people, then yes." Berkowitz later called the remark a "hypothetical insinuation", denying that he supports incest.

Mayor of Anchorage

On July 1, 2015, Berkowitz was sworn in as Anchorage's mayor. In his inauguration speech he urged city residents and leaders to work to overcome differences and "rise above the immediacy and smallness of the moment". On October 13, 2020, he announced that he would resign, effective October 23, after he acknowledged the previous day that he had been in a "consensual, inappropriate messaging relationship" with KYUR television anchor Maria Athens.

Other ventures

Berkowitz took the position of Senior Vice President of the

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

branch of Strategies 360 in February 2011. Berkowitz and Bernadette Wilson were co-hosts of the ''Bernadette and Berkowitz Show'' on Anchorage radio station KFQD in 2014. He left the show when he began his mayoral campaign.Kelly, Devin,
Anchorage radio station KFQD drops Bernadette Wilson's show
" ''Anchorage Dispatch News,'' December 31, 2015, updated July 8, 2016. Retrieved September 4, 2016.

Electoral history

References

External links

Mayor's Office website

Ethan Berkowitz for Mayor of Anchorage
''Official campaign website'' *
Ethan Berkowitz
at ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature'' * , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Berkowitz, Ethan 1962 births Living people 21st-century American politicians Alaska lawyers Alumni of the University of Cambridge Candidates in the 2008 United States elections Candidates in the 2010 United States elections Harvard College alumni Jewish American state legislators in Alaska Jewish mayors of places in the United States Lawyers from San Francisco Mayors of Anchorage, Alaska Democratic Party members of the Alaska House of Representatives Politicians from San Francisco Radio personalities from Alaska University of California, Hastings College of the Law alumni 21st-century American Jews