“Exxon has made billions of dollars off our North Slope oil. What we must demand in return is to be treated fairly,” said Ethan Berkowitz, the Democratic candidate for Alaska’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Time and again I stood up in Juneau for campaign finance reform. For limits from big money, against easing restrictions on lobbyists – for more accountability and more transparency in our political process, and for measures that defended the integrity of institutions against corruption.

Nearly 70 percent of the donations to Berkowitz’ campaign have come from contributors in Alaska. Diane Benson, who is challenging Berkowitz for the Democratic nomination, has raised 64 percent of her money from Alaskan contributors.

Polls favor Ethan Berkowitz, an Anchorage lawyer who led the legislature’s Democratic minority for seven years and cleanly fielded this question from the anchorman at the debate in which Parnell faltered: “When did you last go hunting, and for what?” (Two years ago, for caribou.) “The Republican Party here is in disarray,” said Berkowitz, 46. “They’re infighting. They’re out of money. And they just haven’t had to battle from this position before.”

Too many lives, too many families have been shattered by domestic violence and sexual assault. I worked on too many cases with too many victims, and know that this violence casts a dark, dark shadow over Alaska. The statistics impersonally convey the extent of the problem.

Click here to read Ethan’s responses to the Fairbanks News-Miner candidate questionnaire.

The primary election is 11 days away and pollster Ivan Moore took a look at how some of the congressional races are shaping up. Former state House lawmaker Ethan Berkowitz holds a sizable lead over Diane Benson in the Democratic primary.

On the Congress side, Ethan Berkowitz is winning, hands down. Ethan Berkowitz: 58.0% vs Diane Benson: 24.1%

Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives Sean Parnell has come under fire from his opponents in recent days for appearing to flip flop on the use of congressional earmarks to fund Alaska projects, while the rest of the House field have said the use of earmarks is appropriate if fully vetted and done in a public manner.

Anchorage Democrat Ethan Berkowitz was named to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s Red to Blue fundraising program in June. The most significant PAC money Berkowitz has received is from Illinois Democratic Rep. Rahm Emanuel’s group Our Common Values. The AFL-CIO’s Working Families Vote PAC is also supporting Berkowitz, as is pro-choice groups Planned Parenthood and NARAL, among others.