D Magazine publisher and editor Wick Allison breaks down two competitive House races in Dallas County:

The first is District 102 in the North Dallas area featuring Republican incumbent Tony Goolsby versus challenger Carol Kent, where Allison gives a slight edge to the well-funded Goolsby.

The second is District 107 in East Dallas featuring Democratic incumbent Allen Vaught taking on the guy he upended in 2006, Bill Keffer. There Allison also predicts the incumbent will prevail in part because Keffer is a bit too conservative for this swing district. (Though this time, as everyone seems to be saying, Keffer is actually out in his district doing this thing called campaigning.)

Allison's predictions seem solid, but I happen to think that Kent, a trustee at the Richardson Independent School District, might have done enough to eke out a win. In fact, if Obama carries anywhere close to 55 percent of Dallas County -- combined with the local Democratic party's strong (and intellectually dicey*) message of straight ticket voting -- Republicans will have trouble in the Big D.

And another thing: I always get burned linking a candidates' support to the number of yard signs and yet I'm doing it again: Vaught is destroying Keffer in that admittedly slippery category. Closer to home, someone from his campaign dropped off his brochures at dozens of units at my apartment complex. I think that's the sign of a campaign that is running up the score.

*Since we're talking politics we should not put an emphasis on reason and commonsense, but what is the argument behind straight ticket voting? Is it conceivable that one party will have the superior candidate in four pages of ballots, featuring races as diverse ranging from sheriff to president? Or is it possible that even if you're a committed Republican or Democrat, you might be underwhelmed by one of your candidates? Tell me.