Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has announced that he now opposes the death penalty, calling for an end to the punishment he once helped revive in his state.
At Tuesday’s press conference, DeWine explained that as a young prosecutor and elected official, he once believed the death penalty was a deterrent to crime. But he says that argument no longer stands up to scrutiny.
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“I don’t think today’s argument will work, and I don’t think the facts I’ve cited to support that idea are likely to change in the future,” DeWine, 79, said. “Therefore, I believe Ohio should abolish the death penalty.”
The governor’s change of heart comes as he nears the end of his second and final term. Due to Ohio’s term limits, Mr. DeWine is not eligible to seek a third term in the November midterm elections.
His change in public stance will also put him at odds with the US Republican establishment.
In April, Republican President Donald Trump announced plans to expand the use of the death penalty at the federal level, including a proposal to introduce firing squads.
A majority of Americans still support the death penalty. But DeWine’s announcement comes amid growing skepticism among Americans about punishment.
Support for the death penalty reached a high of 80% in 1994, but has steadily declined over the decades, reaching 52% in 2025, according to research firm Gallup.
This trend has been driven by a combination of procedural and moral arguments.
Critics say black and Latino defendants make up the majority on death row, suggesting racial bias in the sentencing process.
There are also concerns about illegal executions. The Death Penalty Information Center, an advocacy group, notes that since 1973, 202 death row inmates have been ultimately acquitted.
The frequency of botched executions also raises human rights concerns. Some argue that the death penalty constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, prohibited by the U.S. Constitution.
DeWine, however, questioned the “certainty and speed” with which justice would be served. He argued that it generally takes time to impose a death sentence and that it is unlikely that the sentence will be carried out.
“In summary, with every decade that passes since the death penalty was implemented, the chances of a murderer being executed become increasingly remote,” DeWine said.
Ohio’s current death penalty law went into effect in 1981. DeWine was a co-sponsor of the bill at the time.
But he and other lawmakers who voted for the law later reversed their stance and called for its repeal.
The idea that the death penalty deters people from committing crimes has also declined sharply in recent decades.
In 1985, 62% of poll respondents agreed that the death penalty deters murder, but in 2011, only 32% believed the same, a Gallup poll found.
The last execution in Ohio was in 2018, before DeWine took office.
As governor, he has overseen a de facto moratorium on executions by postponing scheduled executions. In 2021, he also signed a bill banning the death penalty for defendants with severe mental illness.
In a speech Tuesday, he asked the state Legislature to consider repealing the 1981 death penalty law or leave the issue to voters.
“Congress can take this action, and I believe Congress should take this action,” DeWine said. “But if Congress doesn’t want to make that decision, it can leave it to a vote of the people of Ohio.”
Republican House Speaker Matt Huffman of Ohio already said in February that he “strongly opposes” any effort to abolish the death penalty. Mr. DeWine acknowledged that he had spoken with Mr. Huffman, but the two remain at odds.
“Reasonable people have argued on both sides of this issue for centuries,” DeWine said. “There are good people on both sides of this issue.”
Twenty-three states have banned the death penalty, but the majority continue to carry out executions, although some states, including California and Oregon, have effectively halted executions.
But Trump also vowed to rescind the moratorium on executions imposed under former President Joe Biden and ramp up his administration’s executions.
Near the end of his first term, Trump oversaw an unprecedented number of federal executions. Thirteen people were executed in approximately six months, from July 2020 to January 2021.
