SEASIDE — Republicans haven’t held the Oregon governor’s office since the Vic Atiyeh era in the 1980s, and the odds of the GOP recapturing the seat have gotten longer as Oregon has trended more Democratic “blue” in recent elections.

Against that backdrop, an online survey of Republicans who attended this weekend’s Dorchester Conference showed former state treasurer candidate Allen Alley to be the choice to put the top office back in Republican hands.

In the survey, Dorchester attendees were asked who they would support if popular Congressman Greg Walden doesn’t run for governor in 2010. Thirty percent picked Alley, while 25 percent backed former U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith and 22 percent supported state Sen. Jason Atkinson of Jacksonville.

Walden has expressed doubts about giving up his congressional seat to run for governor. And this past week, Smith announced he’s going to work for a Washington D.C. law firm.

Though not a scientific poll, the online survey provides a good representation of the views held by the generally more moderate Republicans who attend the annual Dorchester gatherings, said Mike Riley, the Portland pollster who conducted the survey.

“They think Allen Alley ran a good campaign for treasurer. He got his name out there, and his face out there,” Riley said of Alley, a high-tech entrepreneur who lost to Democrat Ben Westlund in November.

Alley, 54, recently became the first candidate to formally enter what could become a crowded field in both parties to replace Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who is barred by state law from running for a third consecutive term.

Atkinson, 38, who finished third in the 2006 GOP gubernatorial primary, is preparing to run again, but has yet to formally enter.

Political analyst Jim Moore thinks Democrats have reason to be optimistic that they will be able to carry forward the momentum from last year’s election and win the governor’s office for a seventh consecutive time. That’s especially true since the GOP’s two leading lights — Gordon Smith and Greg Walden — apparently are not going to be seeking the office.

Neither Alley or Atkinson have anywhere near the name recognition of those two, Moore said.

“It means the Republican Party is going to have a hard time, because whoever they rally behind — Alley or Atkinson — will be relatively unknown to the state,” said Moore, who teaches political science at Pacific University in Forest Grove.

Democrats, on the other hand, have some well-known possibilities waiting in the wings — chief among them former Gov. John Kitzhaber, who is considering a run.

Other potential Democratic contenders include former Secretary of State Bill Bradbury, Senate President Peter Courtney, Portland consultant Steve Novick and U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio.

Alley, meanwhile, said while he doesn’t read too much into the results of the Dorchester online poll, he believes he is becoming better known with voters and that his business background will a big plus during these turbulent economic times.

A former automotive and aerospace engineer, Alley co-founded Pixelworks, a Tualatin-based firm that supplies microchips for flat-panel television monitors. He also served as a deputy chief of staff to Kulongoski.

“That type of background is very valuable when you’re dealing with these tough economic issues we face,” he said.