WATCH: Gov. Ralph Northam signs bill ending the death penalty in Virginia

Gov. Ralph Northam signed legislation on Wednesday abolishing the death penalty in Virginia.

He signed the bill while at the Greensville Correctional Center, after touring the facility’s death chamber.

Virginia has put to death nearly 1,400 people since its days as a colony. In modern times, the state is second only to Texas in the number of executions it has carried out, with 113 since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.

Last month, Virginia’s new Democratic majority won a yearslong battle when both the Senate and House of Delegates approved bills to end capital punishment.

Virginia became the 23rd state to abolish the death penalty.