DCCC - Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

Ethan Berkowitz got to Alaska as soon as he could, and he came the long way around to get here.  Just out of college in 1983, Ethan got a job in Antarctica.  He eventually spent three seasons on "The Ice", first as a field assistant, then as a guide, and finally as an enforcement officer for the U.S. Antarctic Program.  He relished his time working in remote stations, aboard ships, and in the field.

Ethan pursued the Antarctic – including graduate school and service with the federally commissioned U.S. Antarctic Safety Review Panel — until his sights turned north.  After graduating from law school in 1990, Ethan moved to Anchorage and became a law clerk on the Alaska State Court of Appeals.  When he got here, Ethan knew he was going to stay.  As he says, “It’s the people and the place.”

That’s why he’s always ready for new friends and new adventures.  Ethan’s hauled nets and picked fish on commercial boats in Bristol Bay, herded reindeer in the Aleutians, and snowmachined from Manley to Nome.  He has traversed glaciers, and driven the Haul Road.  He has dipnetted on the Copper and hunted caribou on the Kobuk.  He’s shared food everywhere from Metlakatla to Barrow, slept on couches in places from Kaltag to Kenai, picked berries in Bethel, gotten stitched up in Palmer, purchased a wardrobe in Petersburg, flipped a skiff in the Lynn Canal, tipped his truck just off the Glenn Highway, celebrated a birthday in Cordova, and spent a lot of time jawboning in Juneau.

From 1991 to 1993, Ethan worked as a state prosecutor in Anchorage and rural Alaska.  After spending the 1993-94 season in the Antarctic, he opened his own law practice.  Beginning in 1996, he served in the Alaska State Legislature for ten years.  After Ethan’s first term in office, he was chosen by his peers to lead the House Democrats, a position he held for eight years.  In 2006, Ethan was the Alaska Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor.

Ethan’s business interests range from restaurants and real estate to renewable energy.  In 1998, Ethan got together with a group of friends and founded Snow City Café.  This last year, Ethan established Alaskan Alternative Energy, a company that focuses on developing low-cost renewable energy in rural Alaskan communities.

Ethan’s community service includes work with Governor Wally Hickel’s Institute of the North, volunteering with the Youth Court program in Anchorage, and membership on the boards of the Boys & Girls Club and Special Olympics.  In addition, Ethan was on the board of the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research and an ex officio member of the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors.  Ethan currently is Co-Chair of the Research and Scholarship Committee on the University of Alaska Fairbanks Vision Task Force, and is a board member of “Community in Schools”, an organization dedicated to “helping kids stay in school and prepare for life.”

Ethan is married to Mara Kimmel.  They first spied each other at the old Fly-by-Night Club in Spenard.  Now, they’re raising their two children, Hannah, 7, and Noah, 4, just down the street.  Mara currently teaches at the University of Alaska Anchorage