President Biden’s poor performance during the first general election debate against Donald Trump last month left many in the Democratic Party wondering whether the 81-year-old is up to the challenge of winning November’s election. While Biden, his campaign, and numerous top Democrats have insisted that the president is fit for office and will remain at the top of their party’s ticket, a handful of Democrats have started calling for Biden to step aside as the party’s presidential candidate.

So far, only one elected Democrat — Rep. Lloyd Doggett (R-Tex.) — has directly pushed for Biden to leave the ticket. Other Democrats who previously held office also made that demand, and have suggested that, privately, other Democrats are worried about the future of the ticket if he remains on it.

Since the debate, the Biden campaign has sought to tamp down Democratic fears — and potential defections — with a flurry of polling and fundraising data.

“The President has spoken personally with multiple elected officials on the Hill and across the battlegrounds since the debate,” Biden campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt told The Washington Post in a statement.

Here are the Democrats who have publicly called on Biden to leave the ticket:

1. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (R-Tex.)

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Tex.) on Tuesday called on President Biden to withdraw from the Democratic ticket.

Doggett became the first sitting House Democrat to call on Biden to end his presidential campaign.

In a statement, Doggett praised Biden for his years of public service, saying he has “achieved much for our country at home and abroad.” But, he said, the time has come for Biden to step away from the ticket because “too much is at stake to risk a Trump victory — too great a risk to assume that what could not be turned around in a year, what was not turned around in the debate, can be turned around now.”

“President Biden saved our democracy by delivering us from Trump in 2020,” Doggett said. “He must not deliver us to Trump in 2024.”

Doggett, who is 77 and has been in the House since 1995, said Biden should act like Lyndon B. Johnson — who once represented the district Doggett now holds — and make the “painful decision to withdraw.”

“While much of his work has been transformational, he pledged to be transitional,” Doggett said. “He has the opportunity to encourage a new generation of leaders from whom a nominee can be chosen to unite our country through an open, democratic process.”

Doggett added that his decision to make this call was not done lightly “nor does it in any way diminish my respect for all that President Biden has achieved.”

“I am hopeful that he will make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw,” he said. “I respectfully call on him to do so.”

In an interview with The Washington Post after his announcement, Doggett said his views are not unique among his colleagues.

“I know that not everyone agrees with me,” he said. But, he said, “it’s important that this message be heard, because I think it reflects the feelings of a significant number of my colleagues.”

Doggett also said he wishes he had spoken up about Biden’s candidacy earlier, but he and other Democrats were worried about how Republicans would use their concerns as a weapon.

“That’s a motivating factor for me and many other people for not coming out earlier,” he said. “This should have been done a year ago.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, when asked about Doggett’s call for President Biden to leave the presidential race, said the White House respects “other people’s opinions and thoughts.”

“I think that’s what makes this party different from the other side,” she said.

2. Former congressman Tim Ryan (D-Ohio)

Former congressman Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), who mounted a short-lived presidential bid in 2020, on July 2 called on Democrats to replace Biden with Vice President Harris on the ticket ahead of the November election. In an op-ed published in Newsweek, Ryan said it was “heartbreaking” to see Biden struggle on the debate stage, but his performance was a sign that Democrats “must forge a new path forward.”

“I love America. I love our Party. I love Joe Biden,” Ryan — who lost the 2022 Senate race in Ohio to Republican J.D. Vance, who has been mentioned as a potential Trump running mate — wrote. But, he added, “this election needs to be about generational change — something about which I have been shouting for more than a year now.”

Ryan has long been a proponent for a change in leadership in the Democratic Party. In 2016, he challenged then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in a bid to lead House Democrats. He lost.

In his op-ed, Ryan wrote that those who fear a Harris candidacy “is a greater risk than the Joe Biden we saw the other night and will continue to see are not living in reality.”

“The Democratic Party needs to meet this moment and lead,” he wrote. “It’s time for the Democratic Party to let go of the past and give the American people what they want. And they want to be excited about America again. They want to come together. They want to heal. And they want to be asked to help usher in a future of renewal and reform.”

3. Former housing secretary Julián Castro

In a July 2 interview with MSNBC, former Housing and Urban Development secretary Julián Castro suggested that Biden step aside as the Democratic nominee.

Castro — who, like Ryan, ran a short-lived presidential campaign in 2020 — believes “there are stronger options out there for Democrats,” including Harris.

“I believe that another Democrat would have a better shot at beating Trump and because, as Congressman Doggett said in his statement that it’s too risky to let Donald Trump walk into this in November,” Castro said. “I think the Democrats would do well to find a different candidate.”

During the 2020 Democratic primary, Castro sharply criticized Biden over his memory during a debate. And, after Castro dropped out of the race, he endorsed one of Biden’s remaining competitors — Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

4. Former DNC vice chair R.T. Rybak

In a Facebook post shared on June 30, former Democratic National Committee vice chair R.T. Rybak said the public has to push Democratic leaders to get Biden off the ticket.

“Our elected officials are staying shockingly silent in public, especially considering how many of them acknowledge privately that this has to happen,” he wrote. “They fear political retribution but they should really fear that if we lose this election because they didn’t have the guts to do what they know needs to be done, holy hell and history will come down on them like an anvil.”

“Call their offices, circulate this or write your own but speak up now. Worrying about this with each other in private won’t get this done,” he added.

Rybak, who also served as Minneapolis mayor, argued that several younger Democrats could replace Biden on the ticket, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Harris, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

“Trump would be no match for any of these, or many other Democrats, who could step in right now and win the election,” he wrote. “It is absolutely not too late to pick a new candidate. Hold two forums for candidates who meet a threshold, do a straw poll and the delegates pick. A convention that right now almost no one would turn on, would turn into ‘must see TV’ with Democrats trying to top each other on making the most compelling case. A four-day infomercial on why to vote for Democrats.”

5. Former senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)

Former senator Tom Harkin, a Democrat from Iowa who served with Biden in the Senate for over 20 years, called on Democrats to replace Biden on the ticket.

In a note to friends, Harkin described the debate as a disaster from which Biden cannot recover.” He called on Democratic lawmakers to encourage the president to drop out of the race.

“I think the president should step aside and let the convention pick a new candidate,” Harkin told The Washington Post. “He has a great legacy, and now it’s time to pass the torch.”