Mark Earley

Earley then returned to his general legal practice in Norfolk. From 2002 to 2011, Earley was president of Prison Fellowship, a prominent Christian organization founded by former Watergate figure Charles Colson dedicated to ministry to prison inmates and their families. He garnered media attention in 2015 because of his changed attitudes towards criminal justice issues, now focusing on rehabilitation rather than incarceration, and coming out against the death penalty although he had defended executions as Attorney General.

In the 2001 gubernatorial election to succeed Gilmore (limited to one term by the state constitution), Earley garnered 47% of the vote, compared to Democrat Mark Warner's 52% of the vote and libertarian W.B. Redpath who received less than 1% of the votes cast.

In 1997, Virginia voters elected Earley Attorney General. He polled 57.5% of the vote compared to Democratic Party candidate Bill Dolan of McLean who garnered 42% of the votes cast.

Beginning in 1987, Earley represented the 14th Senatorial District in southeast Virginia for a decade. He was succeeded by Randy Forbes, who later won election to the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 4th congressional district.

Mark Lawrence Earley (born July 26, 1954) is an American attorney and former politician. A Republican, he was elected to the Virginia State Senate (1988–1998), and then elected Attorney General of Virginia (1998 to 2001). In 2001, he resigned as Attorney General to focus his time on the 2001 campaign for Governor of Virginia. He ran to succeed James Gilmore, but lost to Democrat Mark Warner.