Sanders stated in a 2015 letter addressed to the Democratic National Committee, that the party should host debates in “not only the early states” but also in “many states which do not currently have much Democratic presidential campaign activity.” The letter was later deleted from Sanders’ campaign website. Sanders mentioned Mississippi as one of those states. Sanders wrote, “While many of these non-target state have not in past had much organized campaign presence,” he said. He wrote: “By expanding geographically the debates beyond the early-calendar states, we can begin to awaken activist at the grassroots level and signal to Democrats in places like Texas and Mississippi that their states aren’t forgotten by the Democratic Party.” Sanders is currently one of three candidates for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. The other two candidates include former Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, of Hawaii. The Sanders campaign decided to travel to Michigan instead, where there are 147 delegates up for grabs, following the Super Tuesday surge by Biden and endorsements from key political figures. Only 41 delegates are available in Mississippi. Sanders, who is not planning to visit Mississippi in 2020 as a presidential candidate, said on Thursday that he had not abandoned Mississippi and scrapped the event. He said, “We are bringing in more staff to Mississippi.” “If it is possible, I will attempt to travel to Mississippi. Biden will visit Mississippi for the first time in 2020 on Sunday. Biden plans to visit New Hope Baptist Church, Jackson, and Tougaloo College in Jackson. Based on Sanders’ poor 2016 Democratic primary results, the Sanders campaign could have calculated his Mississippi chances. Hillary Clinton defeated Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primary statewide. Mississippi gave Clinton the highest percentage of votes of any state in the country that year. Clinton won 83 percent of the popular ballot to Sanders’ 17 %. Biden has been endorsed by most of the state’s Democratic legislators and was also given an endorsement from Congressman Bennie Thompson (Mississippi’s only Democrat in Washington). Sanders explained his decision not to visit Mississippi this week and also highlighted the endorsement from Jackson Mayor Chokwe Anntar Lumumba in Mississippi last week. Chokwe Antar Lumumba had been approached by many Democratic candidates before Sanders publicly supported him. On Thursday, Sanders told national reporters that Lumumba would be playing an “active role” in the primary.