Endorsements already are coming in for the 8th Congressional District race, although no one knows what the district will actually look like in 2012.

Rep. Ryan Winkler, DFL-Golden Valley, who once had contemplated running for Congress ithere, announced today that he is endorsing former Congressman Rick Nolan in that race.

“Congressman Nolan knows how to win,’’ Winkler said in a statement. “He won easily three times in a right-leaning district. He can raise the money and build the orgnization to put Chip Cravaack on the next flight back from Washington.’’

Nolan was a three-time congressman from the old 6th District, who opted to leave in 1980. The vacated seat was then won by Republican Vin Weber.

It should be noted that some 8th District insiders believe that despite Tarryl Clark’s splashy entrance into the race, the top candidate for the DFL nomination may well be Dan Fanning, who recently stepped down as director of Sen. Al Franken’s Duluth office.

It also is assumed by most DFLers that the redistricting map drawn up by the Republican House — a map that would put current 7th District Congressman Collin Peterson in the 8th District and Cravaack in a newly drawn 7th District — has virtually no chance of passing muster with either Gov. Mark Dayton or the courts.