Ethan Berkowitz

Ethan Berkowitz

Nonpartisan

Prior offices

Alaska House of Representatives District 13

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Alaska House of Representatives District 26

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Mayor of Anchorage

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Report an officeholder change

Education

Bachelor's

Harvard University

Graduate

Cambridge University

Law

Hastings College of the Law

Personal

Birthplace

San Francisco, Calif.

Profession

Small business owner

Contact

Campaign Facebook

Personal website

Ethan Berkowitz (D) is the former mayor of Anchorage, Alaska. He served from 2015 until his resignation effective October 23, 2020. In the statement announcing his resignation, Berkowitz said, "My resignation results from unacceptable personal conduct that has compromised my ability to perform my duties with the focus and trust that is required."

Berkowitz ran for re-election for Mayor of Anchorage in Alaska. He won in the general election on April 3, 2018.

Berkowitz was a potential Democratic candidate for governor of Alaska in the 2014 elections.

Berkowitz served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1999 to 2006.

Biography

Berkowitz earned his bachelor's degree from Harvard University in government and economics, his master's degree in polar studies at Cambridge University, and his J.D. from Hastings College of Law. His professional experience includes working as a small business owner and entrepreneur. He worked as an assistant district attorney in Anchorage and worked for three seasons in Antarctica doing a wide range of jobs.

Elections

2018

See also: Mayoral election in Anchorage, Alaska (2018)

General election

General election for Mayor of Anchorage

The following candidates ran in the general election for Mayor of Anchorage on April 3, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ethan Berkowitz (Nonpartisan)	55.4	42,639
		Rebecca Logan (Nonpartisan)	37.1	28,560
		Dustin Darden (Nonpartisan)	2.0	1,502
	Submit photo	Paul Kendall (Nonpartisan)	1.5	1,171
		Timothy Huit (Nonpartisan)	1.2	897
	Submit photo	Ron Stafford (Nonpartisan)	0.6	468
		Nelson Godoy (Nonpartisan)	0.6	446
	Submit photo	Matthew Mendonsa (Nonpartisan)	0.5	408
	Submit photo	Jacob Kern (Nonpartisan)	0.4	272
		Other/Write-in votes	0.7	543

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 76,906
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2015

See also: Anchorage, Alaska municipal elections, 2015

The municipality of Anchorage, Alaska, held election for mayor on April 7, 2015. A runoff election took place on May 5, 2015. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was February 13, 2015.

Candidates for the general election included Jacob Seth Kern, Dustin Darden, Amy Demboski, Timothy Huit, Christopher Jamison, Samuel Joseph Speziale III, Ethan Berkowitz, Andrew Halcro, Dan Coffey, Paul Bauer, Lance Ahern, and Spencer Halgren. Because no candidate received a majority of the votes, the top two candidates—Demboski and Berkowitz—faced each other in a runoff election on May 5. Berkowitz was the winner. Incumbent Dan Sullivan did not run for re-election.

Mayor of Anchorage, Runoff Election, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Ethan Berkowitz	60.7%	42,835
Amy Demboski	39.3%	27,681
Total Votes		70,516
Source: Municipality of Anchorage, "Official general election results," accessed May 20, 2015

Mayor of Anchorage, General Election, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Ethan Berkowitz	37%	20,451
Amy Demboski	24.1%	13,337
Andrew Halcro	21.6%	11,956
Dan Coffey	14.4%	7,960
Dustin Darden	1%	571
Lance Ahern	0.7%	395
Paul Bauer	0.4%	217
Timothy Huit	0.2%	120
Write-in	0.2%	120
Jacob Seth Kern	0.1%	57
Christopher Jamison	0.1%	45
Samuel Joseph Speziale III	0.1%	31
Total Votes		54,275
Source: Municipality of Anchorage - Official general election results

2014

Berkowitz was a potential candidate in the 2014 election for the Governor of Alaska. If Berkowitz followed through with a bid, he would have sought the Democratic nomination in the primary on August 19, 2014. The general election took place on November 4, 2014.

2010

See also: Alaska gubernatorial election, 2010 and Gubernatorial elections, 2010

Berkowitz defeated Hollis French in the August 24 primary by a margin of 46.64% to 38.88%. He faced Sean Parnell (R), William S. "Billy" Toien (L), and Donald R. Wright (Alaskan Independence) in the November 2 general election.

On November 2, 2010, Parnell/Treadwell won election to the office of Governor/Lt. Governor of Alaska. They defeated Berkowitz/Benson (D), Toien/Brown (L) and Donald R. Wright (AI) in the general election.

Governor/Lt. Governor of Alaska, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Parnell/Treadwell Incumbent	59.1%	151,318
	Democratic	Berkowitz/Benson	37.7%	96,519
	Libertarian	Toien/Brown	1%	2,682
	Alaskan Independence	Wright/Donald R.	1.9%	4,775
	Write-in	N/A	0.4%	898
Total Votes				256,192
Election results via State of Alaska Division of Elections.

Noteworthy events

Events and activity following the death of George Floyd

See also: Events following the death of George Floyd and responses in select cities from May 29-31, 2020

Berkowitz was mayor of Anchorage during the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, when events and activity took place in cities across the U.S. following the death of George Floyd. Events in Anchorage, Alaska, began on Saturday, May 30, 2020, at Town Square Park. No curfews were issued. The national guard was not deployed.

To read more about the death of George Floyd and subsequent events, click [show] to the right.

On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis police officers arrested Floyd, a Black man, after receiving a call that he had made a purchase with a counterfeit $20 bill. Floyd died after Derek Chauvin, a White officer, arrived at the scene and pressed his knee onto Floyd's neck as Floyd laid face-down on the street in handcuffs. Both the Hennepin County Medical Examiner and an independent autopsy conducted by Floyd's family ruled Floyd's death as a homicide stemming from the incident. The medical examiner's report, prepared by Dr. Michael Baden and Dr. Allecia Wilson, said that it was "not a legal determination of culpability or intent, and should not be used to usurp the judicial process." On April 20, 2021, Chauvin was found guilty of murder and manslaughter in relation to Floyd's death. Floyd's death was filmed and shared widely, leading to activity regarding racism, civil rights, and police use of force. The first events took place in Minneapolis-St. Paul on May 26. An event in Chicago organized by Chance the Rapper and Rev. Michael Pfleger took place the same day, making it the first major city outside of Minneapolis to host an event in response to Floyd's death.

See also

Anchorage, Alaska	Alaska	Municipal government	Other local coverage

• Anchorage, Alaska municipal elections, 2015
• United States municipal elections, 2015
• Alaska Gubernatorial election, 2014

External links

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Dan Sullivan	Mayor of Anchorage 2015 - Present	Succeeded by NA