Ohio Governor Mike DeWine Calls for Abolishing Death Penalty After 50 Years Supporting It

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, a 79-year-old Republican who helped draft the state's death penalty law in 1981, announced on Tuesday that he believes Ohio should abolish capital punishment. DeWine, who has served as a county prosecutor, state legislator, U.S. congressman, U.S. senator, Ohio attorney general, and governor, said his position has fundamentally shifted based on empirical evidence that the death penalty does not deter violent crime—a belief he previously held as the moral justification for the policy.

During a news conference, DeWine presented data showing a stark decline in death sentences over decades and demonstrating that the lengthy legal appeals process has made executions increasingly unlikely. He noted that condemned prisoners often die by natural causes or suicide before their execution date arrives, and that the prolonged legal process has caused ongoing pain to victims' families and psychological harm to state execution team members. "Each decade that the death penalty has been in effect, the chances of a murderer getting executed get more and more and more remote," DeWine said, stating that he no longer believes the policy serves its intended purpose.

DeWine's announcement reflects his position as a more moderate Republican in Ohio, a state controlled by his party. However, his call for legislative action faces significant political headwinds. Republican House Speaker Matt Huffman stated in February that he would "vigorously oppose" efforts to repeal the death penalty, and State Auditor Keith Faber, running to succeed the outgoing attorney general, said DeWine was wrong and pledged to work with the legislature to implement constitutional methods of execution. In contrast, the Catholic Conference of Ohio praised DeWine's stance, arguing for punishments more in line with human dignity.

For the past seven years as governor, DeWine has maintained an unofficial moratorium on executions by repeatedly postponing scheduled executions, citing pharmaceutical suppliers' refusal to provide lethal injection drugs. Ohio has not carried out an execution since 2018. DeWine said his opposition to the death penalty has crystallized over the past year, and he expects no further executions during his remaining term, which ends in December due to term limits. Despite his extensive experience with the issue and his current position, DeWine's call for abolition is unlikely to succeed in a Republican-controlled legislature where many younger party members are seeking endorsements from President Donald Trump, a staunch death penalty supporter.