The producer and star of the documentary “Super Size Me” hosted a fund-raiser for his old New York University roommate, Council Member Eric Gioia, late last week.

The event, which was held at a lounge in the West 50s and drew more than 600 guests, is one of several Mr. Gioia has held in the last year to add to his political war chest.

He is not alone: Less than two weeks into new four-year terms, a number of city office holders are starting to raise money for future races.

Council Member Simcha Felder said yesterday that he is planning a fundraiser for March and Council Member Peter Vallone Jr. has one scheduled for later this month at the nightclub Lotus in the West Village.

“Every elected official I know is fund-raising over the next three months,” a political consultant, Scott Levenson, said yesterday. “This period traditionally marks the kickoff for fund-raising for the next filing period, especially for candidates who have any ambition for higher office.”

Mr. Levenson said the need to raise more money and to raise it early has become crucial in city and state elections, in which candidates must spend ever increasing amounts of money. “If you’re not thinking about raising money early you’re behind, period,” he said.

The finance chairman for Gifford Miller’s recent mayoral campaign, Robert Zimmerman, who is a Gioia supporter, said raising money early is “not just smart, it’s essential.”

Over the summer, Mr. Gioia collected about $100,000 during a fund-raiser at the South Street Seaport, and in the last year the 32-year-old Queens council member has also held fund-raisers in Los Angeles and Seattle.

Having just won a second term with 85% of the vote, the latest event raises questions about what his next move will be. Some have said he had his eye on running for public advocate in 2009, when Betsy Gotbaum is forced out of her job by term limits.

Mr. Gioia said it is “too soon to make a decision.” Instead, he said he is focused on using his current office to make government work better. He said his recent event with the “Super Size Me” producer, Morgan Spurlock, which took in lots of small donations, was a way to get people involved.

A spokeswoman for Ms. Gotbaum, Anat Jacobson, said yesterday that the public advocate has not ruled out running for mayor in four years. Ms. Jacobson said Ms. Gotbaum has not yet started fund-raising but that she would form a “2009 committee” soon.

Mr. Vallone, who is reportedly interested in running for district attorney in Queens when the current district attorney, Richard Brown, retires, won his race in November with about 90% of the vote. He said much of the need to raise money early is tied to term limits.

“This is part of what term limits has wrought,” Mr. Vallone said. As for the district attorney’s position, he said: “I’m a former prosecutor and now I’m public safety chair in the council. It’s something I would obviously consider if the job became available.”

Mr. Felder said it is appropriate to spend money during a campaign even if the competition is weak, as long as campaign finance rules are followed.

“If you’re permitted to spend money on a race, you do whatever you can to get your name out, to get your record out, and to make sure people know what you’ve being doing in the community both for the position you hold now and for the position you may want to hold in the future,” he said yesterday. Mr. Felder did not say which office he is considering running for.

During the recent mayoral campaign, the Democratic nominee, Fernando Ferrer, ran into trouble because he started raising money late and didn’t have enough to spend against Mayor Bloomberg.

Mr. Gioia, whose family owns a flower shop under the no. 7 subway line in Sunnyside, has raised roughly $555,000, more than almost any other council member except Melinda Katz, who ran for speaker, and David Yassky, who recently aborted a campaign for district attorney in Brooklyn and is now planning a run for Congress.

“It’s actually more than fund raising,” Mr. Gioia said yesterday. “Part of the reason I’m doing this is because so often you hear about events where you’ve got to spend 500 bucks to have a glass of white wine with a politician. What I really want to do is open up the process and get people off the sidelines.”

Over the summer, after his previous fund-raiser, the council member said: “I think that ambition coupled with a desire to do good is okay. It’s blind ambition that you have to worry about.”