So run a statewide petition campaign to put executions on the ballot. 
Have the voters make the choice.
Personally, I am very against state executions, seeing that they really don't have much positive effect on murder rates, are expensive, and because of my personal religious beliefs, are wrong. 
(My dictionary defines religion as... "the quest for the values of the best life for all"). 
And yes, if my friend were murdered I would be greatly challenged to keep my beliefs, but in the long run, blood lust isn't a great tool of social control. Too much chance the totally innocent get caught up in the legal dragnet. 
Hugh Massengill, Eugene