DENVER — Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bennet picked up the endorsement Friday of onetime White House hopeful Gary Hart, a party elder statesman hoping to boost Bennet’s longshot candidacy.
Hart, now 82, was a Colorado senator and well-regarded underdog when he won the Democratic primary in New Hampshire in 1984. Former Vice President Walter Mondale eventually won the nomination before losing to President Ronald Reagan.
Bennet, also a Colorado senator, hopes to emulate Hart’s New Hampshire performance as he tries to emerge in a crowded presidential field where he has yet to crack 1% in polling. Hart planned to introduce Bennet at the New Hampshire Democratic Party’s convention on Saturday.
“A number of years ago, the voters of New Hampshire provided an opportunity for a young Colorado senator to build a strong national candidacy,” Hart said in a statement. “They have the chance now to do it again. Michael Bennet has the intelligence, experience, and judgment to put our nation back on track at home and abroad.”