A former Democratic U.S. senator from Colorado who once had his eye on the presidency is throwing his support behind a successor with the same aspirations.

Gary Hart endorsed Michael Bennet Saturday in New Hampshire at the state party convention, saying Bennet has the potential to come from behind the same way Hart did 35 years ago.

Hart won the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary in 1984, upsetting front-runner Walter Mondale, though Mondale went on to win the nomination and lose to Ronald Reagan in the fall election.

Hart was the leading Democrat in the 1988 race for president, but his campaign was derailed in a scandal over allegations of an extramarital affair.

“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 before introducing Bennet at the New Hampshire Democrats’ meeting. “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.”

Bennet’s campaign said he has “ambitious plans to move America forward with a new generation of leadership, and his campaign continues to gain momentum in New Hampshire and nationwide.”

Bennet said Hart “shocked the world” by winning the New Hampshire primary.

“It’s in that spirit that I’m running for president,” Bennet said in a statement. “Our home state of Colorado is lucky to call Senator Hart one of our own, and I’m honored to have his endorsement and to carry on the baton of generational change that he represents.”

Bennet’s campaign announced Friday that he plans to open his national headquarters in Lakewood Tuesday. The candidate’s wife, environmental attorney Susan Daggett, is expected to attend in his place. The Senate reconvenes Monday after its month-long August recess.

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