François Fillon answers questions from the press | Mehdi Fedouach/AFP via Getty Images François Fillon faces internal calls to quit campaign Conservative candidate losing support in parliament and out on the campaign trail.

PARIS — About 40 members of the French center right on Tuesday called on François Fillon to consider dropping out of the race for the presidency over a financial scandal they say has damaged his campaign beyond repair.

In the clearest sign yet that Fillon is losing party support, the elected officials from his Les Républicains party told him in parliament to find a "political solution" to his problems, which have resulted in his on-the-ground campaign nearly grinding to a halt.

Their rebellion capped a nightmarish three weeks for Fillon, who is battling to stay in the race amid allegations that he paid his wife and two children hundreds of thousands of euros in public funds for work they did not do or for which they were unqualified.

"We need to find a political solution that matches what is at stake because we can easily find ourselves in the absolutely incredible position where our political family would be absent from the [presidential election's] second round and that is not acceptable," said Les Républicains MP Alain Gest after dissenting conservatives and Fillon met at a dinner in Paris on Monday.

A party member briefed on the meeting and deliberations on Fillon's political fate said the message to Fillon matched what Gest and others said after the dinner, adding the dissenters had gathered about 40 signatures from elected officials.

During the meeting Fillon fought back against arguments that he was too damaged to continue and urged party members to rally behind his campaign, arguing that no other candidate enjoyed the same legitimacy following his victory in a conservative primary election in November.

"I need you to help me. We are in this campaign and we can win it," a journalist from Le Figaro quoted Fillon as telling the group of dissenting MPs. "I am harassed by the press and harassed by the judicial system. I don't need on top of this to be harassed by parliament."

His appeal blunted the internal assault — to a degree.

Le Figaro reported that Georges Fenech, the MP behind the initiative to address Fillon in parliament, decided at the last minute not to urge Fillon to call a meeting of the party's senior leadership, which would have set in motion a formal debate on the viability of his campaign.

But other party members said Fillon only succeeded in surviving the confrontation in parliament, not in convincing his critics he still stood a chance of winning the presidential election.

Down and almost out?

Stung by constant press coverage of the payments scandal, Fillon is falling behind his two main rivals in the polls — far-right leader Marine Le Pen and former Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron. A survey by Odoxa published Tuesday showed Fillon's personal approval rating has plummeted by 10 percentage points to 22 percent since the outbreak of the scandal, with an even sharper drop among conservative voters.

"[Fillon's campaign managers] are pressing the button, but nothing is happening because the button is broken" — A Les Républicains member

The allegations are also taking a serious toll on Fillon's on-the-ground campaign, which had been its strongest weapon. The party member, who asked not to be identified, said rank-and-file activists were so demoralized by the negative feedback from the electorate that some were no longer carrying out their orders.

An initiative by Fillon's campaign to distribute a "letter to the French people" failed to reach a fraction of its intended recipients because many activists simply refused to distribute them, the party member said. "Car trunks are full of these things ... People spent the afternoon at the café instead," he added.

"They [Fillon's campaign managers] are pressing the button, but nothing is happening because the button is broken," he said. "There is no real campaign to speak of."

Fenech, the center-right MP behind the parliamentary initiative, is a former ally of Nicolas Sarkozy who voted for Fillon in the primary's second round. But members of the rebel group brushed off accusations that Sarkozy, the former president who says he has withdrawn from politics, was agitating against Fillon, pointing out the two men planned to have lunch together soon.

For now, Fillon looks unlikely to give in to calls for him to step down. But if he does, the Républicains will look at ways to replace him as a candidate. One possibility is to organize a snap primary election online. Another is to hold a vote among the party's board members.

"We are not there yet," said the source.