Dutton moved to
Newtown, Connecticut in 1823. He served in the
Connecticut House of Representatives in 1828, 1834, 1838, 1839, and 1850. He moved to Bridgeport in 1837, and then to
New Haven, Connecticut in 1847 to accept the appointment to become Kent Professor of Law at Yale, a position he held until his death. He was also a member of the
Connecticut Senate in 1849. He served as
President pro tempore of the Connecticut Senate. He was the unsuccessful candidate for governor in
1853 of the
Whig Party. Dutton was
elected Governor of Connecticut in 1854 becoming the last Whig to hold that office. Although he had finished second place to
Democrat Samuel Ingham in the April popular vote, because no candidate received a majority, the state legislature decided the election. Dutton was elected by a vote of 140 to 93 in the state legislature (known as the
Connecticut General Assembly). During his term, the
Kansas-Nebraska Bill became law in May 1854, and a prohibition law was also enacted. In 1855, Dutton
ran unsuccessfully for re-election and finished in third place behind both Ingham and the victor
William T. Minor. He left office on May 2, 1855. After completing his term, he served on the bench of the Superior Court and the Supreme Court of Errors from 1861 to 1866. ==Death==