Tony Earl, (born 1940), American politician and a member of the Democratic party, served as the 41st Governor of Wisconsin from 1983 until 1987.

Earl was first elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1969, filling the seat vacated by David Obey, who is now a member of the House of Representatives. In 1974, Earl left the Assembly to run for Wisconsin Attorney General, but was defeated in the primary by Bronson La Follette. Upon his defeat, then-Gov. Patrick Lucey named Earl secretary of the Department of Administration. Later, Lucey put Earl in charge of the state DNR.

As head of the state DNR, Earl was well received, and created a reputation as a staunch defender of the environment and a problem-solver. In 1982, Earl used that reputation to defeat former acting Gov. Martin Schreiber in the Democratic primary for Governor. Earl caught a big break when popular then-Gov. Lee Dreyfus unexpectedly decided not to run for re-election, and soon the state democrat's hopes of reclaiming the Governor's mansion became very real. Earl went on to defeat a decidedly weak Republican candidate, Terry Kohler, in a landslide victory. In 1983, Tony Earl was sworn in as the Governor of Wisconsin.

Earl's tenure as governor was rocky from the start. By the time he took office, Wisconsin was marred by a budget deficit of nearly $1 billion and a 12% unemployment rate. Earl's poor relations with organized labor made his stint as governor all the more complicated. State legislators rejected his health insurance savings plan, one of the focal points in his campaign for governor. After disagreements over healthcare reform, prison staffing, wage freezes and other matters, Earl lost the support of organized labor, who had been his vital supporters.

At the height of one of the Wisconsin's worst economic predicaments in state history, Tony Earl was ousted after one term in 1986 by State Assembly Minority Leader Tommy Thompson, a Republican who staunchly opposed Earl's policies. Thompson would be reelected to four terms as Governor, and would later be appointed as Health and Human Services Secretary under George W. Bush.

Earl currently serves on the governing board of Common Cause in Wisconsin, (CC/WI), a non-partisan, non-profit citizen's lobby affiliated with national Common Cause. CC/WI promotes campaign finance reform, ethics and lobby reform, open meetings laws and other issues concerning the promotion and maintenance accountable government. In July of 2004, Earl was recognized at the 12th Annual Outreach Awards for his acknowledgment of the needs of the gay and lesbian community during his term in office; he received the organization's Political Courage Award.