With the number of voters expressing no party preference rising fast, the party is in danger of slipping into third place in the state.
Since the return of democracy in 1985, the PT's share of federal deputies has tracked its share of party preference, notes Alberto Almeida, a political consultant.
He measured not only voters' expressed party preference but also the extent to which their attachment got translated into actual votes (ie, the extent to which Democrats really voted Democratic).
As with New York's battle between Hillary Clinton and Rick Lazio, this is a race where everyone knows the candidates and will vote according to personal, not party, preference.
As the race progressed superdelegates, made up of prominent party members who are free to vote their preference at the party convention, became the most important votes in the nomination process.
What Mr Lilley heard was that voters thought that a party that had a philosophical preference for the free market and a smaller state could not be relied on to provide good public services.
The election is taking place under an alternative vote system which allows party members to rank candidates in order of preference.
Unpledged delegates in the Republican Party do not have to indicate a candidate preference, but a majority are elected just like pledged delegates.
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Out of a mixture of spite and folly, their coalition colleagues in Queensland had urged voters to put Mrs Hanson's party ahead of Labor in their second-preference votes.
Party members will rank the candidates in order of preference.
Speaking earlier on Monday, Mr Livingstone urged other Labour members to stay within the party, while he promised to cast his second preference in the mayoral ballot for Frank Dobson, Labour's official candidate.
Hais and Winograd add they will need to redefine their party as more open, and appeal to the millennial preference for local, grassroots solutions.
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The Labour Party is still ahead when it came to the Westminster preference - 36% of those questioned said they would back the current administration, although that figure was down by six points since June.
Thus, it shouldn't come as a shock that despite their declared preference for small government, many in the tea party embrace big government when necessary.
Unlike the parliamentary governments of Europe, where one party runs everything until they mess up, the American system actually gives a preference to both parties having skin in the game.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, whose Liberal Democrat party is in a coalition with Mr. Cameron's Conservatives, said his preference was to create a rigorous system without any legislation.
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