Others, though, are hosting fundraisers, talking to friends or limiting their serious tire-kicking to only a few. Like fundraiser Marilyn Katz, who sponsored two events for former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke but promptly showed up at an event for former Vice President Joe Biden.

And big-name consultants, from Pete Giangreco and Ken Snyder to Tom Bowen and AKPD (strategist David Axelrod's former firm) are officially on the payroll of various candidates.

Here's the rundown.

At the moment, Biden and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg seem to have the deepest backing here.

Attorney and former mayoral hopeful Bill Singer threw an event last week for Biden, co-hosted by developer Bob Wislow, Mesirow Financial CEO Richard Price, City Hall activist Elzie Higginbottom and others. Singer says he's with Biden to stay, since he's "the best positioned" in the field to unseat President Donald Trump.

Also with Biden here are numerous top trial lawyers and Jeremy Hallahan, a former Rahm Emanuel fundraiser who is Midwest funding chief for Biden.

Buttigieg is pulling in lots of people who were active in Chicagoan Barack Obama's 2008 campaign, says consultant Becky Carroll, who was a campaign spokesman then and supports Buttigieg now. Playing a key national role for Buttigieg is businessman and former congressional hopeful John Atkinson, with AKPD having been retained by the campaign and with attorney and party activist Marty Castro serving as co-chair of a July 2 Buttigieg fundraiser.

O'Rourke has been in town several times, and attracted an A-list of notables to his most recent event last week, including Katz, former Deputy Mayor Steve Koch, ex-top Obama adviser Austan Goolsbee and top national fundraiser Lou Sussman. But that group could grow or shrink, depending on whether O'Rourke climbs back up in the polls after a recent fall.

Among other contenders:

Former Emanuel aide Tom Bowen and associates at New Chicago Consulting are working for Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee.

Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer is for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York. And introducing Gillibrand at a recent fundraiser here was Rep. Lauren Underwood of Naperville.

Former Obama White House social secretary Desiree Rogers heads the list of those working for Sen. Kamala Harris of California, along with Chicago Community Trust CEO Helene Gayle.

Giangreco’s Strategy Group is working for Sen. Amy Klobuchar, with financial backers including Bruce Heyman, the former U.S. ambassador to Canada.

Environmentalist Wendy Abrams hosted a fundraiser last week for Montana Gov. Steve Bullock.

Ex-Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has hired consultant Ken Snyder’s Snyder Pickerill Media Group.

Though he hasn’t said so publicly yet, Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia is widely believed preparing to back Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Each of the two has endorsed the other in recent races.

Notably missing from that list is Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. She's not seeking contributions from major party donors, and Illinois is not among the early primary states, so her exposure and support here has been limited.

There's plenty of time for all of this to shake out. The first actual vote, the Iowa caucuses, is more than six months away.