(Bloomberg) -- Joe Biden said Tuesday he is preparing to narrow the field of vice-presidential hopefuls to a smaller group of finalists who he’ll interview.

“We’re getting closer,” he told KPNX in Phoenix, Arizona, in a remote TV interview from Delaware.

“The background checks that have been done are coming to a conclusion within the next week to 10 days,” he said. Once that process is complete, “we’re going to go through all of that, narrow down the list, and then interview the folks left on the list.”

The former vice president has committed to picking a woman as his running mate. But he has been urged to pick a woman of color after the renewed attention to racial issues sparked by the recent protests over the death of an unarmed Black man, George Floyd, in police custody.

Potential candidates include Senator Kamala Harris of California, former National Security Advisor Susan Rice, California Representative Karen Bass, Florida Representative Val Demings and Stacey Abrams, who served as representative in the Georgia Assembly.

Biden had initially promised a decision by Aug. 1 but has more recently given himself some wiggle room to make an announcement sometime before the start of the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 17.

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