Why didn’t Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine commute all death sentences during his big announcement?

Mike DeWine spent years quietly opposing thedeath penalty in Ohio without ever saying so out loud – largely by ensuring no one was executed in the seven-plus years he has been governor.

Even though most people could see how he felt, he still had a big moment Tuesday when he formally announced his opposition. One reason the announcement had weight, Today in Ohio podcast hosts said on Wednesday, is that he was the author of the state’s death penalty law 45 years ago.

But podcast hosts also said the announcement landed with a bit of a thud, because it was so unsurprising and because DeWine did not do the one thing that would have had a big impact: commute all existing death sentences.

He said he opposed capital punishment because it fails as a deterrent, costs enormous sums of money, drags victims’ families through decades of appeals and can’t even be carried out because pharmaceutical companies won’t sell the state the drugs it needs.

He asked lawmakers to abolish it.

RELATED | I watched Ohio's last execution. Here's what it was like

Host Chris Quinn said he didn’t think DeWine was entirely honest about his opposition.

“I don’t think he came out and actually said the real reason he’s against the death penalty,” Quinn said.. “I don’t think it’s the mechanical side. I think it violates his religious view about taking a life.”

Ohio has 113 people on death row. DeWine says he wants the death penalty abolished, but he did not abolish it for them.

DeWine is a deeply religious man and a staunch opponent of abortion, rooted in the belief in the sanctity of human life. Quinn points out that if DeWine had framed his death penalty opposition through that same moral lens — if he had called on fellow Republicans who champion pro-life values to join him in protecting the sanctity of all life — he might have actually moved some votes.

Instead, he reduced his argument to an efficiency critique. Leila Atassi was equally direct about the missed opportunity, pointing to the unique position DeWine occupies right now.

“He’s 79 years old, he’s term limited. He’s not running for anything,” Atassi said. “If there was ever a moment to say I was wrong, this is morally wrong and I’m going to use every power I have to do something about it, this was that moment.”

Ohio has 113 people on death row. DeWine says he wants the death penalty abolished, but he did not abolish it for them.

“If you truly believe what you said yesterday, commute the sentences,” Quinn said.

The governor has the unilateral power to do that. Lawmakers, who have no plans to take him up on his call to abolish the death penalty, cannot stop him from commuting sentences.

Source: cleveland.com, Staff, June 17, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
— Oscar Wilde

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