Paul, Kucinich In Fight To Hold Onto Congressional Seats

Most political watchers may be focused on Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John McCain tonight, but it was also an important evening for two candidates who fell short in their White House runs: Republican Ron Paul and Democrat Dennis Kucinich.

Both candidates faced primary challenges for their House seats on Friday – Paul in Texas and Kucinich in Ohio.

Final results have yet to come in in the contest involving Kucinich, though the Wall Street Journal reports that early votes showed him "leading his nearest rival by about 2-1."

(UPDATE, 1:30 AM: Kucinich has likely won the contest.)

Kucinich was facing, among others, Joe Cimperman, whom the Associated Press described as "the toughest, best-financed challenger in his 12-year congressional career." Cimperman has called Kucinich a "showman," not a Congressman.

Paul, meanwhile, easily won his primary night fight, according to the AP. The 10-term libertarian-leaning Congressman who raised large sums over the Internet for his White House run defeated local Councilman Chris Peden.