Mark Earley
{{short description|American attorney and former politician|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Mark Earley
| office = 40th Attorney General of Virginia
| governor = Jim Gilmore
| term_start = January 17, 1998
| term_end = June 3, 2001
| predecessor = Richard Cullen
| successor = Randy Beales
| state_senate1 = Virginia
| district1 = 14th
| term_start1 = January 13, 1988
| term_end1 = November 24, 1997
| predecessor1 = William Parker
| successor1 = Randy Forbes
| birth_name = Mark Lawrence Earley
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1954|7|26}}
| birth_place = Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| party = Republican
| spouse = Cynthia Breithaupt
| education = College of William & Mary (BA, JD)
| website = {{url|earleylegalgroup.com|Official website}}
| children = 6, including Mark Jr.
}}
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.
Biography
Earley was born in Norfolk and graduated from the College of William and Mary, receiving first an undergraduate degree in religion and later a J.D. degree. He is married to the former Cynthia Breithaupt and a father of six children.{{cite web |url=http://appropriations.house.gov/_files/biomarkearley.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2016-08-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510100802/http://appropriations.house.gov/_files/biomarkearley.pdf |archive-date=2017-05-10 |url-status=dead }}
After admission to the Virginia bar, Earley had a private legal practice in Norfolk for fifteen years.
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.
He attributes his interest in politics to his two years as a missionary in Manila, the Philippines.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/library/vagov/otherraces/ag21.htm |title=Republican Earley Breaks Tradition in Race Against Dolan |first=Ellen |last=Nakashima |page=B01 |date=October 21, 1997 |newspaper=The Washington Post |accessdate=2022-06-30}}
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.{{cite web|url=http://historical.elections.virginia.gov/elections/search/year_from:1997/year_to:1997|title = Virginia Elections Database » Search Elections}}
As Attorney General, Earley worked with his predecessor, James S. Gilmore, who had won election as Governor of Virginia during the same election. He had a mixed record on consumer issues, and also had initiatives against abortion and for youth mentoring during his years in office.{{cite web|url=http://www.styleweekly.com/richmond/politics-and-the-law-virginias-attorney-general-mark-earley-walks-a-tightrope-between-the-two/Content?oid=1385193|title = Politics and the law. Virginia's Attorney General Mark Earley walks a tightrope between the two| date=January 1980 }}
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.{{cite web|url=http://historical.elections.virginia.gov/elections/search/year_from:2001/year_to:2001/office_id:3|title = Virginia Elections Database » Search Elections}}
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.{{cite web |url=http://www.breakpoint.org/learning-center/colson-center-courses/colson-center-courses/295-mark-early-bio |title=Mark Earley |website=www.breakpoint.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917050833/http://www.breakpoint.org/learning-center/colson-center-courses/colson-center-courses/295-mark-early-bio |archive-date=2016-09-17}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://emu.edu/now/news/tag/mark-earley/|title = Mark Earley Archives| date=21 October 2015 }}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://oneplace.com/ministries/BreakPoint/ BreakPoint with Mark Earley Broadcasts]
- {{CongLinks | congbio= | votesmart=5093 | fec= | congress= }}
{{s-start}}
{{s-legal}}
{{s-bef|before=Richard Cullen}}
{{s-ttl|title=Attorney General of Virginia|years=1998–2001}}
{{s-aft|after=Randy Beales}}
|-
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=Jim Gilmore}}
{{s-ttl|title=Republican nominee for Governor of Virginia|years=2001}}
{{s-aft|after=Jerry Kilgore}}
{{s-end}}
{{Virginia Attorneys General}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Earley, Mark}}
Category:College of William & Mary alumni
Category:Virginia attorneys general
Category:William & Mary Law School alumni
Category:American Christian missionaries
Category:Christian missionaries in the Philippines
Category:Candidates in the 2001 United States elections
Category:20th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly