Now that the policy season is over, most in Austin are taking a well-deserved summer vacation. Those not on vacation are switching their attention to the upcoming elections and the March primary.

A few key things to watch out for in the next few months:

* Who is running and who isn’t. Loyalists of former Speaker Tom Craddick worried that his demise might cause some of his lieutenants to retire, creating open seats Republicans may have to defend. Who retires is always important in an election cycle. With the House almost evenly divided, it’s even more so now.

* How much money do national Democrats put into legislative races? Normally, Texas isn’t on the national Democratic radar screen. This cycle could be the exception. With redistricting on the horizon, national Democrats could spend money in key legislative races – given the closeness of the partisan division in the Texas House.

Winning the House doesn’t necessarily give Democrats an ability to effect state-level redistricting. Doing that requires winning statewide offices, as lines are usually defaulted to the Legislative Redistricting Board.

But it would allow Democrats to stop the drawing of an unfavorable congressional map, an activity that does not go to LRB. With Texas expected to gain two or three federal congressional seats, this could matter greatly and has prompted some speculation about outside money.

If no map passes, a suit would get filed – first in state court and likely defaulting to federal court. In federal court, two of the three judges on the panel are appointed by the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit – currently staunch conservative Edith Jones.

* The actions of GOP-leaning candidate support PACs. There appears to be at least some competition between Republican-leaning PACs in terms of who will control the bulk of the money destined for candidates seeking election to the Texas House. Will the various organizations seeking to elect a Republican House work together or at cross purposes? And will intra-party contests help the party or help Democrats?

These are two key questions.

* Does Kay Bailey Hutchison resign her Senate seat in order to contest the governorship? If so, when?

There’s almost a full-blown primary being run in both parties for U.S. Senate. Only there’s no election to run in, as Hutchison’s term doesn’t expire until 2012 and she hasn’t resigned yet.

And there are several down-ballot contests being waged under the assumption that the incumbent is not seeking re-election.

On the Republican side, Sen. Florence Shapiro (R-Plano), former Secretary of State Roger Williams, Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones, and Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams are all raising money for a Senate bid.

Also talked about is Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. If Dewhurst decides to seek the Senate seat (and he hasn’t publicly declared yet), then it opens up the Lieutenant Governor’s office, and Atty. Gen. Greg Abbott is widely discussed as a possible successor. If Abbott tries to move up, former solicitor general Ted Cruz and Rep. Dan Branch (R-Dallas) are already running campaigns for attorney general and have raised more than $1 million each.

The key word in all of this discussion – it gets lost in most of the gossip sessions – is if. If Hutchison resigns and if Dewhurst chooses to seek the Senate seat, then the above scenario becomes relevant.

Speaking of the Senate, both primaries could well be contested with both former Comptroller John Sharp and Houston Mayor Bill White looking at the race.

* What tales the ethics reports tell. A lot can be said about the July 15 ethics report. It covers the first six months of the year and must be submitted by July 15. The Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and legislators are barred from fundraising during the legislative session and period when bills may be signed and vetoed. So their reports only cover a few weeks of fundraising.

So far it looks as though the anticipated gubernatorial race, featuring Gov. Rick Perry and Hutchison, will be an expensive one. The Perry campaign reports $9.4 million on hand.

It’s a bit early for legislative challengers to show significant fundraising. But the amount of money raised by sitting legislators in swing districts could be significant.

Also, the amounts raised by the candidates seeking the office of attorney general could be interesting. (The candidates for U.S. Senate file their reports under federal, not state, rules.)

* Which challengers step forward against incumbents in key districts. We’ve talked a lot about money in this article. But while greenbacks play a role, candidates win and lose races. The GOP has a mixed record when it comes to candidate recruitment, and some cycles are better than others.

Do candidates come forward for the key races, particularly in rural Texas? Are they people who are well-established in their communities or hold elective office? In multi-county seats, do they live or have a good reputation in the population base of the district, or at least one of the larger cities?

All of these questions could be very influential as election season looms.