K

EENE, N.H. — A proxy battle for preeminence within the Massachusetts Democratic Party is unfolding quietly in the snows of New Hampshire.

Seizing on the political opportunities opened by Tuesday’s first-in-the-nation primary, the state party’s elected heavyweights are looking to enhance their reputations by helping their chosen candidate, former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, now an underdog in New Hampshire.

But these Democrats also have their eyes on a different prize as they jockey behind the scenes: to emerge as the state party’s next brightest star. And, with the party’s leading lights having collectively opted for a more adulatory than adversarial approach toward Republican Governor Charlie Baker, they are choosing to prove their mettle across the border.

Longtime Democratic watchers say the New Hampshire primary has become the new battleground to see who can lay claim to the Massachusetts party’s leadership mantle and fine-tune their own campaign organizations. As a bonus, these pols could gain favored status in the eyes of the woman they are all working to elect president.

“I think people realize it’s an opportunity to show what you can bring,’’ said state Senator Benjamin Downing, a Pittsfield Democrat who has joined the northward parade on behalf of Clinton and announced recently he would not seek reelection this fall. “It’s an ability for us to see who has what to offer in what races moving forward.’’

US Representative Katherine Clark has trekked to New Hampshire nine times since October, an adviser said, and plans to be there both days this weekend. Attorney General Maura Healey has led five canvassing expeditions since August and appeared Tuesday in Hampton at a get-out-the-vote rally with Clinton.

Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, who engaged in a prolonged flirtation with the never-realized campaign of Vice President Joe Biden, appeared with Clinton in Manchester last month. Walsh political aides say the mayor — following in the footsteps of the late former mayor Thomas M. Menino, a renowned Clinton loyalist — has been trying to deploy about 200 supporters per weekend.

“It’s almost like a state rep race, because in every area of the state, you have to have an organization,’’ said Walsh.

A power vacuum among Massachusetts Democrats has gaped for months, with US Senator Elizabeth Warren having rapidly crafted a national profile, former governor Deval Patrick departing for the private sector, and Menino stepping down months before his 2014 death.

Current Democratic leaders have so far shied away from challenging Baker, with just a handful piping up to criticize him in his first year.

“They’re scared of running against Charlie, because they’re scared they’ll lose. So they’re lining up for a US Senate seat,’’ said one veteran state Democratic operative, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive issues.

Baker, for his part, has sought to avoid entangling himself on the Republican side of the presidential race, refusing to say even whether he would support his party’s nominee.

There is no such compunction among Massachusetts Democrats about beating up on national GOP candidates, who are more conservative than Baker and either unpopular or virtually unknown in Massachusetts. And so, to slake the natural thirst to serve as an actual opposition party and prove their Democratic bona fides, politicians have streamed up the interstate.

Some are longtime backers of the Clintons who ply their trade quadrennially in New Hampshire. But this year, with a vacancy atop the party and no marquee races back home, the stakes have changed.

Aides to other Democrats said their bosses took notice when US Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III came out early for Clinton and started touting his trips to New Hampshire on her behalf. Similarly, top Democrats buzzed last fall when US Representative Seth Moulton — like Walsh — publicly pondered supporting the potential Biden bid.

Moulton, too, is now supporting Clinton. US Representative Stephen F. Lynch made a New Hampshire trip last weekend and has plans to be there again this weekend, bringing with him scores of volunteers.

Indeed, it is the rare senior Massachusetts Democrat who strays from the Clinton camp. Former US senator Paul Kirk, who once chaired the national party, has publicly backed US Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Philip W. Johnston, who chaired the state party and worked in the Clinton administration, has said he is leaning that way, as well.

But among the party’s up-and-comers, it’s almost all Clinton, almost all the time. And, while they are for now united in common cause, there will likely come a time when some of them square off against one another.

“Having built up your apparatus and your identity and your good will may be what you need to win a highly competitive primary,’’ said Peter Ubertaccio, a political science professor at Stonehill College.

“Everyone’s trying, I think quite rightly, trying to gain some influence in their particular sphere, and rallying the troops up in New Hampshire is a good way to do that,’’ Ubertaccio said.

Massachusetts, too, is a natural wellspring of Clinton foot soldiers, with long ties to the dynastic family. Also, some of Clinton’s top advisers work at the Boston-based Dewey Square Group, whose executives are organizing the trips.

Just when this happy band of like-minded Democrats breaks up is unclear. Regardless of who the presidential nominee is, Massachusetts heavily exports campaign workers and elected surrogates every four years. What would ultimately divide them down the road would be a race that draws the interest of more than one of them, when the cooperative surrogates would see their own names on statewide ballots pitted against each other.

Ubertaccio, for one, thinks that could be a ways off, given that the state has two relatively new US senators and that polls show Baker’s popularity at historic levels.

“It could be that they’re trying to take the initiative to take control of the party in the short term to take on Baker,’’ he said. “My suspicion is that, if his numbers stay where they are for the next six, eight months, a lot of these folks will be looking on to something else.’’

Jim O’Sullivan can be reached at jim.osullivan@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JOSreports.