In Georgia, which voted days later, Sanders barely cracked one-quarter of the vote. Clinton, meanwhile, amassed a trove of delegates in Georgia and across the rest of the South, where black voters make up the bulk of the Democratic electorate.

This year, Sanders’ task is even more complicated. The Democratic primary field is larger and more diverse than ever, and there are two leading African-American candidates for presidency – plus the specter of a potential Stacey Abrams campaign.

It's not yet clear whether the grassroots Sanders supporters in Georgia who backed him in 2016 will be back in 2020; most of the leading activists and elected officials in the state told the AJC in a recent survey they're staying neutral for now.

Still, Sanders has not yet been sidelined in the South. A poll released Sunday by The Charleston Post & Courier showed Sanders was preferred by 15 percent of the state's likely Democratic voters, second only to former Vice President Joe Biden.