Nebraska becomes first red state in decades to abolish death penalty

Nebraska abolished its death penalty Wednesday after a political standoff over the use of capital punishment in the Cornhusker State.

Lawmakers in the unicameral Legislature voted 30-19 to override a veto issued by Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) over their initial legislation ending the practice.

The landmark vote makes Nebraska the first traditionally red state to eliminate the death penalty since 1973, according to the ABC News affiliate in Omaha.

Nebraska now joins 18 other states and Washington, D.C., in banning executions.

Ricketts, a first-term Republican governor, initially vetoed a proposed dealth penalty repeal on Tuesday. Wednesday’s 30 votes overriding Ricketts’ veto met the minimum threshold for defeating his maneuver.

“Americans have been moving away from executions for more than ten years, but now we have a red state turning that trend into law for the first time in 40 years,” Shari Silberstein, executive director of Equal Justice USA, told NBC News.

“Nebraska has shown the nation what happens when you put aside partisan politics and embrace simple common sense,” she said. “The death penalty was already on its last legs, but it’s hard to imagine that it has any staying power left after this.”

Nebraska currently has 10 inmates on death row following the death of an 11th prisoner earlier this week. The state has not conducted any executions since 1997.

ABC News’ Omaha affiliate said that Nebraska’s last execution was carried out via electrocution.

State Sen. Ernie Chambers (I) introduced the ultimately successful bill after four decades of working to end capital punishment in his state. Some senators joined Chambers’ camp amid concerns the legal hurdles would permanently prevent Nebraska from carrying out executions.