Running for Congress doesn’t necessarily take two years of legwork, but most campaigns start getting set up about a year in advance. There have been rumors of an impending announcement around several potential Republican candidates, but as of this moment, none are official.

In Minnesota, “Allen Quist, a former Republican state representative who’s run for governor twice, appears to be well on the way to mounting a campaign to challenge DFL Congressman Tim Walz in the 1st District.” The paperwork is being filed.

The “Quist for Congress” web site seems to suggest this isn’t just idle speculation.

In Pennsylvania, Rep. Paul Kanjorski is a longtime Democratic incumbent who looks almost politically bulletproof, unless he’s got a really strong challenger. That strong challenger would be Hazelton mayor Lou Barletta, who ran against Kanjorski in 2008, led in several polls, and lost by only four percentage points, while Obama was winning the district by 15 percentage points. Barletta says he’s thinking seriously about it, but hasn’t made a decision yet.

Finally, in New York, Richard Hanna came within three points of knocking off Rep. Michael Arcuri last year, while Obama was narrowly winning the district. He issued a statement on the health-care bill passed by the House, calling it “well-intentioned but ill-conceived.” He said it’s not a sign he’s definitely running. . . .