Republican gubernatorial candidates disagree on death penalty methods

Republican gubernatorial candidate U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn is ready to activate the modern iteration of “Old Sparky” as Tennessee grapples with lethal injection protocol for executions.

Tennessee’s electric chair held that moniker until it was retired in 1989 and another chair was put into use. The state legislature made lethal injection the main type of execution in 2000, but death row inmates can still request electrocution, under a law signed by former Gov. Bill Haslam in 2014, if the state is unable to obtain the proper drugs for lethal injection. Five inmates chose electrocution in 2018 and 2019.

Gov. Bill Lee gave a one-year reprieve to death row inmate Tony Carruthers in May when the state’s execution team failed to find veins to connect a main line and secondary line to deliver lethal injection drugs. Lee is declining to postpone three more executions set for this year, despite questions about the lethal injection protocol and a legal challenge.

Blackburn, the front-runner in the Aug. 6 Republican gubernatorial primary, doesn’t believe executions should be put on hold.

“As governor, I would work to bring back the electric chair, and as soon as a criminal sentenced to death has exhausted all of his/her appeals, I believe in flipping the switch. That’s the only way to closure for victims’ families,” Blackburn said in an email response to Lookout questions. She was not available for an interview. 

U.S. Rep. John Rose isn’t ready to go that far, though he acknowledges death row inmates sentenced before 1999 can request the electric chair. In a Monday interview, Rose said he trusts Lee to evaluate the death penalty protocol and decline to put a new moratorium in place.

“All of the weight of study on this question is that probably the most humane way to do an execution is through lethal injection,” Rose said. “I think it would be a mistake to return to something that is considered, by some at least, to be less humane.”

Based on the reports he’s seen, Rose said the botched execution of Carruthers appears to be a “special circumstance” in which a second vein couldn’t be accessed for backup as part of the protocol. He speculated that most people have experienced problems with the administration of intravenous drugs and said he doesn’t believe that would be a reason to delay scheduled executions.

“We have the death penalty in Tennessee, and we ought to let it proceed along the guidelines we have in place to dispense the punishment that, as a state, we’ve decided we should dispense in those circumstances where it’s justified,” Rose said.

Republican state Rep. Monty Fritts of Kingston did not say whether lethal injection should be dropped for executions but noted the state’s efforts on executions are a “failure,” saying the length of time it takes to carry out sentences, often decades, is “unacceptable.”

Fritts doesn’t believe executions should be put on hold, and he criticized Lee for postponing Carruthers’ execution.

“To delay that for a year was crazy,” Fritts said. The candidate said he hasn’t spoken with Department of Correction officials, but said, “We have a tendency to (be cautious) because we’re reluctant to execute the judgment that a court and a jury’s made.”

Should Guard remain in Memphis?

Despite an incident last week in which two Tennessee National Guard troops shot and killed a man involved in a reported shooting incident, the state’s three Republican gubernatorial candidates say they would keep troops in Memphis, though at least two said they shouldn’t remain there without an end date in sight.

“That’s not a long-term solution,” Rose said. “The National Guard has other duties, other priorities, so if we’re gonna solve the crime problem in Memphis, we’ve gotta have a long-term sustainable plan that doesn’t put National Guardsmen in the situation where they’re being asked to serve indefinitely.”

Lee deployed hundreds of Guard personnel to Memphis in September 2025 to join a task force created by President Donald Trump to quell crime.

But Rose said keeping National Guard personnel in Memphis without a “long-term solution” could have a “demoralizing effect.”

Rose pointed out the court declined a legal challenge to Lee’s deployment of Guard personnel. A judicial panel found that a combination of state and local officials who sued the state, arguing the deployment was unconstitutional, did not have legal standing to file the challenge.

Blackburn didn’t give a firm answer to whether she would keep troops in Memphis or deploy them. But she said the Memphis Safe Task Force has “delivered incredible results,” including locating 150 missing children, making more than 10,000 arrests and removing 1,700 illegal guns from the community.

Blackburn’s comments echoed information provided by the U.S. Marshal’s Service reported in June. 

“We must capture the Memphis momentum,” Blackburn said, adding she would work with local and federal governments to make the city stronger. “Public safety is one of the top priorities for Tennesseans and continuing to build on the progress of the Memphis Safe Task Force is a key part of my vision for Tennessee.”

Fritts said he would keep National Guard troops in Memphis but noted he believes the state needs an “exit strategy.”

“I don’t think we need to consider that an eternal thing,” Fritts said.