Poll: Republican Support for Death Penalty Drops 9 Points

Since Gallup first started asking about people’s views on the death penalty in 1937, Americans have on all but one occasion favored the practice. Nonetheless, it has been a controversial issue in society, with the divide especially pronounced between Democrats and Republicans. The former have tended to oppose the practice, while the latter, for the most part, have supported it.

Increasingly, however, we’re seeing a growing divide on the Right over capital punishment—a debate that intensified after the botched execution of Clayton Lockett in Oklahoma earlier this year.

While 63...