Mark Lawrence Earley (born July 26, 1954) is an American politician. As a member of the Republican Party, he was elected to the Virginia State Senate (1988–1998) and then as Attorney General of Virginia from 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 businessman and Democratic Party leader Mark Warner.From 2002 to 2011, Earley was president of Prison Fellowship, a prominent Christian organization dedicated to ministry to prison inmates and their families. He is a husband and a father of six.