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With less than three weeks to go before election day, the candidates for Alaska's only congressional seat verbally sparred at a debate on natural resources Thursday.

Before a mostly Republican audience, Ethan Berkowitz faced off with incumbent Congressman Don Young. The topic - Alaska's natural resources. About 100 randomly selected people in the audience graded each candidate's response to the dozen or so questions.

Young out-scored his Democratic opponent - not surprising, given that 53 percent of the respondents were Republican and 74 percent had already made up their minds about for whom they would vote.

"I have the fire in my stomach," Young said. "They're not ulcers, by the way. I should have ulcers after the last two years."

Young says he's got more than three decades of serving Alaska - a tradition Berkowitz jokingly said is time to change.

"We need to modernize the mining laws," Berkowitz said. "In 1872 I think Don Young was in Congress at that time, too."

Young responded, "Hallelujah!"

In more serious moments during the debate, Berkowitz urged voters to "take a chance on change, or else you can stay the course and stay with Don Young."

Young says he's got the proven track record.

"You

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know where I am, where I've been and where I'm going," Young said.

But the Sen. Ted Stevens/Mayor Mark Begich debate was not quite a debate because statements were read on behalf on Stevens, who's currently on trial in Washington, D.C.

"I hope as the election moves forward in the next three weeks, we'll have some opportunity -- Ted Stevens and I -- to have a true debate and debate the issues," Begich said.

The Begich campaign has proposed a radio debate, which the Stevens campaign says they need to schedule.

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