Alley camp hopes business record will help grab undecided voters

State Treasurer candidate Allen Alley’s campaign manager said that despite being down in a poll released Thursday, there was a large number of undecided voters that the former Pixelworks CEO would be able to pick up before Election Day.

A Portland Tribune/Fox 12 poll showed Alley down by double digits to state Sen. Ben Westlund (D-Tumalo), 34 percent to 22 percent. But the poll also said that 40 percent of Oregonians were undecided in the race.

“We think in the end voters will prefer someone with business experience rather than a state Senator with no experience handling a financial crisis,” Alley’s campaign manager, Erick Wareham, said.

Wareham pointed out that Alley (R-Lake Oswego) started his company, Pixelworks, during the tech boom of the 1990s and was its CEO during the tech bust that followed. Wareham said that experience, along with starting a venture capital firm in 1987, meant that Alley knew how to navigate a business through financial difficulties, and he would be able to do the same with the Beaver State.

“People realize that these are tough times,” Wareham said. “And when you have tough times, you want someone who is stable.”

The poll was conducted by local public opinion firm Davis, Hibbitts & Midghall Inc., by surveying 500 registered voters between Sept. 11 and Sept. 14. The margin for error in the poll is +/- 4.4 percent.