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Sen. Dennis Egan, D-Juneau, said Friday he will run for a full four-year term in the Alaska Senate, following his appointment by former Gov. Sarah Palin on the last day of this year's legislative session in April.

That decision ended speculation that he might have been holding the seat for Rep. Beth Kerttula, D-Juneau, who had sought appointment to the Senate seat and was Juneau Democrats' first pick to fill it after then-Sen. Kim Elton resigned to take a position in the Obama administration.

Kerttula filed a notice of intent to run for re-election to her own seat seeking her seventh term Thursday, the same day Egan filed his intent, setting them up for the August party primary and November general election next year.

Kerttula said she would not challenge Egan for the Senate seat, but would have run for it if Egan had not.

"A Kerttula will never run against an Egan," Kerttula said.

Kerttula's father, Jay Kerttula, served in the Legislature when Sen. Egan's father, Bill Egan, was the state's governor.

"The family tradition goes back a long way," Egan said.

Egan praised the job Kerttula has been doing representing Juneau in the House of Representatives.

Rep. Cathy Muñoz, R-Juneau, the city's other House member, has already filed a notice of intent to run as well. All are signaling early that they intend to keep the offices; the filing deadline is not until June 1.

Senate leaders recently appointed Egan to two influential positions in the Legislature, seats on both the powerful Senate Finance Committee and the Legislative Council, which manages the Capitol complex, its satellites and any new additions - all relevant to possible capital move efforts.

Egan said those positions, which Elton also held, will help him better represent Juneau and played a role in his decision to run for the seat.

As senator, Egan said he intends to advocate also for issues such as the Southeast electrical intertie which will help the region develop its economy and improve life in villages now using expensive diesel to produce electricity.

"We've got gigawatts of renewable energy here, not only hydro but wind, biomass, tidal, but we need an intertie to develop it and to export it," he said.

Egan said he talked with Sen. Albert Kookesh, D-Angoon, before deciding to run for the seat. Kookesh, in Washington, D.C., for a meeting of tribal leaders with President Obama, urged him to run, he said.

Southeast's other senator, Republican Bert Stedman of Sitka, urged him to run as well. "I work well with both sides of the aisle," Egan said. Egan is a member of the bipartisan coalition that controls the Senate.

Juneau was without representation in the Senate for most of the last session, after then-Gov. Palin balked at naming Kerttula, the choice of Juneau Democratic Party leaders, to replace Elton.

While Kerttula had been an ally of Palin in legislative battles to get a larger share of the state's oil revenue for itself and to bring a natural gas pipeline to Alaska, Kerttula had publicly questioned Palin's qualifications to be vice president when she was U.S. Sen. John McCain's running mate.

Palin then attempted to appoint two Juneau residents who re-registered as Democrats to be eligible for appointment and were not supported by the city's Democratic Party leaders.

The Senate's other Democrats refused to confirm the appointments, however, and Juneau remained without a senator through most of the session.

On the session's final day, after weeks of back and forth, Palin and Juneau Democrats agreed on Egan, whom Senate Democrats confirmed.

• Contact reporter Pat Forgeyat 523-2250 or e-mail patrick.forgey@juneauempire.com.