(The Center Square) – An Arizona Democratic lawmaker is seeking to let voters decide if the death penalty could be legal in 2026.
Rep. Patty Contreras, D-Phoenix, filed House Concurrent Resolution 2001 for the upcoming legislative session, which would ask voters if a ban on capital punishment be placed in the state constitution. The resolution would need to pass both chambers of the Republican-majority legislature in order to make it onto the ballot.
“People who commit heinous crimes should be locked away, and victims of crime and their families deserve justice. But the death penalty is not the answer,” Contreras said in a statement on Wednesday.
The resolution would have no bearing on the federal death penalty.
The lawmaker cited the state’s decision to continue executions in 2025, likely beginning with convicted murderer Aaron Gunches.
Gov. Katie Hobbs started an independent review last year with retired federal magistrate judge David Duncan leading the charge, but Duncan was fired after he suggested during the review that a firing squad could be a better alternative to the state’s lethal injection process. The review was requested after numerous “botched” executions with lethal injections.
“That’s why it has been abolished in more than 70 percent of the world’s countries. It’s disheartening to see that Arizona is re-starting executions when there is no evidence that the death penalty deters crime, and it is disproportionately applied to defendants who are people of color, people who are economically disadvantaged and especially those with intellectual disabilities,” Contreras added.
Instead of letting Duncan finish his review, Hobbs opted to use a report from the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation & Reentry on lethal injection improvements. The decision to go with the ADCRR’s conclusions instead paved the way for Attorney General Kris Mayes to ultimately seek a death warrant for Gunches, who killed Ted Price in 2002.
“This is not a decision that I have made lightly, but the death penalty is the law in our state, and it is my job to uphold it,” Mayes stated last week, The Center Square reported. “The family of Ted Price has waited for over 22 to years for justice in this case, and I am committed to ensuring that justice is served.”
