Marsha Blackburn

Some of Tennessee’s top Republicans said Monday they want to explore alternative ways of executing condemned prisoners after the failed execution of Christa Pike, which relied on a large dose of pentobarbital.

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, the state’s Republican candidate for governor, said Pike’s unsuccessful execution last week “should not be grounds to halt carrying out the death penalty.” Rather, she said, Tennessee needs to reevaluate the way it does executions.

“If it’s lethal injection, if it is electric chair, what we do know is we have to find a way to do this — and do it successfully,” Blackburn told The Associated Press.