Gavin Newsom (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday threw his support behind a ballot measure that would repeal the death penalty in California, saying the criminal justice policy did not deter crime and was fundamentally immoral.

In a statement, he said Proposition 62 would abolish a system "that is administered with troubling racial disparities." Newsom, who publicly supported a 2012 failed measure seeking to end capital punishment, said the initiative would also save the state millions of dollars. He cited statistics showing that California has spent $5 billion to execute 13 people since 1978.

Proposition 62 would replace capital punishment for first-degree murder with life in prison without the possibility of parole. It is one of two competing measures on the future of the death penalty that voters will weigh on Nov. 8.