NEW POLL: Overall Support for the Death Penalty Falls Below 50% for the First Time Since 1971 as Opposition Among Younger Americans Grows

According to October 2026 polling from Gallup, support for capital punishment has reached a fifty-five year low in the United States. Overall, Gallup found 49% of U.S. adults are in favor of the death penalty for people convicted of murder, while 45% oppose it, the highest opposition since 1966. This is Gallup’s first poll since 1971 that has found support for the death penalty below the majority level. That number masks considerable differences between older and younger Americans, a trend Gallup has continually identified. The majority (54%) of Americans aged 50 and older maintain support for the death penalty, while just 39% of those under the age of 30 support the death penalty. Fewer people of all political affiliations — whether Democrats, Independents, or Republicans — support the death penalty in 2026 than they did in the 1990s and early 2000s, but there are still partisan differences The new poll found that just 28% of Democrats are in favor of the death penalty while 50% of Independents and 73% of Republicans support it. The difference between Democrats and Republicans has continued to grow, now reaching 45 points in 2026.

This year’s poll was conducted October 1 – 19, in the immediate aftermath of Tennessee’s failed execution of Christa Pike. During the polling period, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced plans to livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan. Those plans were cancelled following a public backlash. These significant events may have contributed to this year’s results as the country refocused attention on the death penalty, but the decline in support for the death penalty is also part of a long-term trend dating to the turn of the millennium.

A generational divide in Gallup’s polling shows that more than half (59%) of young adults aged 18 – 29 oppose use of the death penalty, as do 44% of those aged 30 – 49. Gallup notes that in 2000, support for the death penalty was higher amongst all age groups, with 61% of those aged 18 – 29 and 67% of those aged 30 – 49 in support. Among those 50 and older, support has fallen from 71% in 2000 to about 54% today.

Reflecting on the implications of these polling results, Gallup noted, “Americans’ support for the death penalty has declined significantly over the past three decades, led by declines among Democrats and younger generations of U.S. adults. Now, less than a majority of U.S. adults are in favor of it, which has not been the case in over 50 years.”