Mark Pryor

Mark Lunsford Pryor (born January 10, 1963) is an American attorney, politician and lobbyist who served as a United States senator from Arkansas from 2003 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as attorney general of Arkansas from 1999 to 2003 and in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1991 to 1995. Born in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Pryor is the son of former Arkansas Governor and U.S. Senator David Pryor. He received his bachelor's degree from University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and his J.D. degree from its law school. He worked in private practice for several years until being elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1990. He was elected the state attorney general in 1998. Pryor announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate in 2001, running for the same Senate seat his father had held from 1979 to 1997. He was elected with 54% of the vote, defeating Republican incumbent Tim Hutchinson. He was reelected with no Republican opposition in 2008. During the 112th Congress he served as the chairman of the Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance. Pryor ran for reelection in 2014, but was defeated by Republican Tom Cotton. In 2020, Pryor was hired as a lobbyist by Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck. He is the most recent Democrat to serve in the U.S. Senate from Arkansas.