Alaska House of Representatives Berkowitz was the
Democratic minority leader in the
Alaska House of Representatives from 1999 to 2007. He was first elected to represent District 26 (
Anchorage) in 1996 and reelected in 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2004.
2006 campaign In the
2006 election 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 and
Sean Parnell, 48% to 41%.
2008 campaign In 2008 Berkowitz ran for election as
U.S. Representative for
Alaska's at-large congressional district, held by scandal-plagued
Republican Don Young, who was seeking his 19th term in Congress. Berkowitz defeated
Diane Benson 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 it was reported 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
2010, but in July 2009 he said he would not run and was instead considering challenging
Governor Sarah Palin. Berkowitz entered the race following Palin's resignation in July 2009 and on August 24, 2010, he defeated State Senator
Hollis S. French for the Democratic nomination. Incumbent Republican Governor
Sean Parnell defeated Berkowitz and his running mate
Diane E. Benson in the November general election, 59% to 38%.
2015 mayoral campaign Berkowitz ran for mayor of Anchorage in
2015. 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, 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 Maria Athens, a
KYUR television anchor. He and Bernadette Wilson were co-hosts of the
Bernadette and Berkowitz Show on Anchorage radio station
KFQD in 2014. He left the show and began a mayoral campaign. ==References==