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Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is resurrecting a ghost from Hillary Rodham Clinton’s past as he looks to expand his lead in New Hampshire.

The Vermont senator who is battling Mrs. Clinton for the Democratic nomination has invited Jonathan Tasini to join him on the campaign trail in New Hampshire on Saturday. While Mr. Tasini might not be a household name these days, he is quite familiar with Mrs. Clinton, having challenged her in a primary contest for her Senate seat in New York in 2006.

A former union leader, Mr. Tasini hammered Mrs. Clinton on her vote for the Iraq war and challenged her – to no avail – to face off against him in debates.

“I’m the eternal optimist, and I have two reasons to be optimistic: 65 percent of people don’t know me, and 62 percent solidly oppose the war,” Mr. Tasini told The Times in 2006. “But Hillary is being incredibly antidemocratic by not debating me even though I am on the ballot.”

Mr. Tasini says his re-emergence has nothing to do with ill will toward Mrs. Clinton, who won more than 83 percent of the vote in that primary while barely – if ever – mentioning his name.

Mr. Tasini, a longtime fan of Mr. Sanders, recently published a book about him, “The Essential Bernie Sanders and His Vision for America,” and was inspired to offer his support.

“Had Bernie not run, I would have just stayed out of the whole thing,” Mr. Tasini said. “And if he hadn’t run I wouldn’t be looking around to find someone else.”

Still, Mr. Tasini is tempering his optimism.

“Bernie faces a steep hill,” said Mr. Tasini, who predicted he could win at least one of the first two voting states. “Then the whole map is going to look different.”