AK-AL: Berkowitz In

Former State Representative Ethan Berkowitz, who served six years as State House Minority Leader and was the Democratic nominee for Lt. Governor last night, has decided to run for the Alaska's At-Large Congressional seat against longtime Republican Don Young.

Berkowitz is the strongest challenger for the seat in years. Young has usually managed to get around 70% of the vote in every election. Last year he got an abnormally small 56% against a relative unknown, Diane Benson, who got 40%.

Although the district is R+14 and went 61% for Bush in 2004, A Democratic victory is not out of the question here, especially with Berkowitz. Young's approval rating is in the tank and he's marred in scandal.

The other news about this is that Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, whose father held the seat before young, will probably not run, making it more likely he'll run for Ted Stevens' seat in the US Senate.

With Berkowitz in, and Young's tanking approval ratings, I put this at Lean Republican