LINCOLN, Neb. — Three years after Nebraska lawmakers voted to abolish capital punishment, the state is preparing to carry out its first execution since 1997 on Tuesday, an about-face driven largely by the state’s Republican governor, Pete Ricketts.

A wealthy former businessman, he helped finance a ballot drive to reinstate capital punishment after lawmakers overrode his veto in 2015.

‘‘It wouldn’t even have made it to the ballot without him,’’ said Matt Maly, a death penalty opponent who has joined daily protests outside the governor’s residence.

Ricketts argues he’s fulfilling the wishes of voters, who opted to overturn the Legislature’s decision in the 2016 general election. He calls capital punishment an important tool for law enforcement.

Prison officials are preparing to execute Carey Dean Moore, 60, for the 1979 shooting deaths of two Omaha cab drivers.

Moore has stopped fighting the state’s efforts to execute him, but two drug companies have filed legal challenges to prevent the state from using what they say may be their drugs.

Associated Press