Florida executed 21 prisoners when Jeb Bush served as state governor.
Bush, a strong proponent of the practice, aired television ads during his failed 1994 bid for governor that attacked his opponent for going soft on the death penalty.
But in a new interview, Bush says that he's "conflicted" about the practice because his Catholic faith clashes with the families of victims seeking closure for crimes and with concerns about the length and cost of convictions and appeals.
"It's hard for me, as a human being, to sign the death warrant, to be honest with you," Bush told NBC's "Meet the Press" in an interview that aired Sunday.
"I'm informed by my faith in many things, and this is one of them," he added.
"So I have to admit that I'm conflicted about this."
