(COLUMBUS, OHIO) - Ohio Governor Mike DeWine says he believes the state should abolish the death penalty.
The Republican governor made the comments Tuesday, saying he no longer believes capital punishment serves as a deterrent to murder.
DeWine said federal and state data have convinced him that the death penalty does not prevent violent crime.
The governor has repeatedly postponed scheduled executions in Ohio, citing the inability of the state to obtain drugs used in lethal injections. He has already said he does not expect any executions to take place during the remainder of his term, which ends in 2026.
Ohio has not carried out an execution since July 18, 2018.
The state currently has 30 executions scheduled over the next four years, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
DeWine helped write Ohio's current death penalty law as a state legislator in 1981 after capital punishment was reinstated. Since executions resumed in 1999, 56 people have been executed in Ohio by lethal injection.
Any effort to repeal the death penalty faces an uncertain future in the Ohio legislature. Republican House Speaker Matt Huffman has previously said he would strongly oppose abolishing the practice.