Pryor, Mark Lunsford (1963-…), was a member of the United States Senate from 2003 to 2015. Pryor, a Democrat, represented Arkansas. He occupied the seat once held by his father, David H. Pryor, who represented Arkansas in the U.S. Senate for 18 years after serving one term as governor of the state.
Mark Pryor was born on Jan. 10, 1963, in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He attended the University of Arkansas, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in history in 1985 and a law degree in 1988. After graduation, he entered law practice in Little Rock, Arkansas.
In 1990, Pryor was elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives. He was reelected in 1992. In 1998, he won election to the post of attorney general of Arkansas. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002 and took office in 2003. He won reelection in 2008. As a senator, Pryor often focused on agricultural and military issues. He served on the Senate’s committees on Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; Small Business and Entrepreneurship; Rules; and Ethics. Pryor lost a bid for reelection in 2014.
