Earley was born in Norfolk and graduated from the College of William and Mary, receiving first an undergraduate degree in religion and later a law degree. He is married to the former Cynthia Breithaupt and a father of six children. 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. 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. 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. In the 2001 gubernatorial election to succeed Gilmore, 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. 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.
Controversy
As Attorney General of Virginia, Earley recused himself during the investigation against evangelistPat Robertson. Robertson made a contribution of $35,000 to Earley's campaign. The Commonwealth of Virginia concluded that Robertson diverted his ministry's plane to a Liberian diamond-mining operation, but after a year's investigation decided not to prosecute.
