Carolyn Barta of Dallasblog has been busy doing overviews of various races of interest in the Dallas area. Here she is on the race for HD112:

Two Asian-American women are competing to succeed State Rep. Fred Hill in District 112. Whichever candidate wins will claim the distinction of being the only Asian-American woman in the Texas Legislature. The candidates are Republican Angie Chen Button, 54, and Democrat Sandra VuLe, 39. Both women say they've had the opportunity to live the American dream. The contest should be a good test of the current partisan makeup of the district after longtime Republican dominance.

Longtime Republican State Rep. Tony Goolsby faces a challenge in November from Richardson School Board member Carol Kent in one of the more closely watched legislative districts in the state. Democrats need five seats to take the state House back from the GOP, and strategists regard District 102 in North Dallas as a possible pick-off seat. Goolsby had to fight off a feisty opponent in 2006 and 2004, and the Democrat candidate this time is more firmly rooted in the district, in addition to running in a more Democrat-friendly election year. She says education will be her big issue.

Who better to challenge longtime GOP congressman Pete Sessions than a former Republican? At least that's the rationale of Eric Roberson, a Dallas plaintiff's and briefing attorney who lives in Plano, where he used to be a member of the Collin County Republican Men's Club and was a state convention delegate. "I was Mr. Republican," he said -- even built an elephant float in his garage for an area parade. Two years ago, he switched parties and is running as a middle-of-the road Democrat who hopes to reach out to both sides of the aisle.