The following opinion piece, “Should California Elect a Governor Who Can’t Decide About the Death Penalty?” appeared in The Hill and is written by opinion contributor Austin Sarat.

Xavier Becerra is a former Attorney General of California and is currently running for Governor of California in the 2026 election. On June 5, 2026, the Associated Press projected that Becerra successfully advanced to the November general election after taking the lead in California’s nonpartisan gubernatorial primary. Becerra also previously served as the Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Biden administration from 2021 to 2025.

Excerpts from the opinion appear below.

As the California gubernatorial primary comes to a close, the leading Democratic candidate’s position on the death penalty remains unclear. Xavier Becerra owes the residents of the Golden State — and the rest of the nation — an explanation of what he will do on that issue if he is elected.

Should he become governor, Becerra will have enormous discretion in determining the future direction of the state when it comes to the death penalty, as well as the fate of those under a sentence of death. He will have to decide whether to continue the execution moratorium imposed by current Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and whether to grant clemency to anyone who is convicted of committing a capital crime. 

After Gov. Jerry Brown nominated Becerra to serve as the state’s top law enforcement officer, Becerra said, “I support the death penalty, but I hate the way it’s being executed.” As attorney general, he put aside his qualms and moved forward with existing capital prosecutions, initiated new prosecutions, and defended cases on appeal, sometimes with unusual vigor.

Moreover, when he was attorney general, Becerra did little to address the substantial problems that plague California’s death penalty system, such as racial discrimination, the impact of geography, and the risk of false convictions. And, seven years ago, he ducked the question of whether he still supported capital punishment. The Los Angeles Times paraphrased him saying only that it “was his duty to enforce the laws in California, the death penalty among them.”  

Although California hasn’t executed anyone in more than a decade, capital punishment is still legal there. It is what I call a “death penalty swing state.” Like swing states in presidential elections, what happens in death penalty swing states will have a nationwide impact on the death penalty debate in this country.   

It is time for Becerra to make up his mind.

You can read the full editorial “Should California Elect a Governor Who Can’t Decide About the Death Penalty?” from The Hill Opinion.

Austin Sarat is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science at Amherst College.