WASHINGTON —U.S. Representative Adam Schiff of California on Wednesday became the highest-profile Democrat to call for President Joe Biden to drop his reelection bid, as the party pushed ahead with plans to formally nominate Biden via a virtual vote in early August before the party's convention two weeks later.

The move to schedule the vote comes after nearly 20 Democrats in Congress have called on Biden to exit the presidential race in the wake of his halting debate performance against Republican former President Donald Trump last month.

Among Democrats nationwide, nearly two-thirds say Biden should let his party nominate a different candidate, according to an AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released Wednesday, sharply undercutting his post-debate claim that "average Democrats" are still with him even if some "big names" are turning on him.

"While the choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden's alone, I believe it is time for him to pass the torch," Schiff said in a statement, "and in doing so, secure his legacy of leadership by allowing us to defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming election."

Delay encouraged

The announcement from Schiff, who is running for the U.S. Senate this fall, came after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries encouraged the Democratic National Convention to delay for a week plans to hold the virtual vote to renominate Biden, which could have taken place as soon as Sunday, according to two people familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

Now, the Democratic National Convention's rules committee will meet Friday to discuss the virtual vote plans and will finalize them next week, according to a letter sent to members obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press. The letter from co-chairs Bishop Leah D. Daughtry and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz states that the virtual roll call vote won't take place before August 1, but that the party is still committed to holding a vote before August 7, which had been the filing deadline to get on Ohio's presidential ballot.

"We will not be implementing a rushed virtual voting process," Daughtry and Walz wrote, "though we will begin our important consideration of how a virtual voting process would work."

The Democratic convention opens August 19 in Chicago, but the party announced in May that it would hold an early roll call to ensure Biden would qualify for the ballot in Ohio.

Ohio originally had an August 7 deadline but has since changed its rules. The Biden campaign insists that the party must operate under Ohio's initial rules to ensure Republican lawmakers can't mount legal challenges to keep the president off the ballot.

Not a lock

Even if Democrats conduct a virtual roll call vote ahead of their convention, meanwhile, it wouldn't necessarily lock Biden into the nomination.

The Democratic National Committee rule-making arm could vote to hold an in-person roll call in Chicago, said Elaine Kamarck, a longtime member of that committee and expert on the party's nominating process. But since the Ohio law doesn't go into effect until September 1, Biden appearing on the state's ballot remains a real concern, Kamarck said.

"This is a fail safe for the Democrats," Kamarck said, adding that "the convention is the highest authority" in the nominating process.

The AP-NORC poll also found that only about 3 in 10 Democrats were extremely or very confident that he has the mental capability to serve effectively as president, down from 40% in an AP-NORC poll in February.

The letter from Daughtry and Walz came a day after a contingent of House Democrats wary of swiftly nominating Biden circulated another letter raising "serious concerns" about plans for a virtual roll call. Their letter to the DNC, which has not been sent, said it would be a "terrible idea" to stifle debate about the party's nominee with the early roll call vote.

"It could deeply undermine the morale and unity of Democrats," said the letter obtained by the AP.

A spokesperson said that Representative Jared Huffman of California, who was among those leading the effort to rally signatures on the letter, was pleased with the decision to delay and would hold off sending the letter from House Democrats as they continue monitoring the situation.

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