Bingham moved with his wife, in 1833 to
Green Oak Township, Michigan where he was admitted to the
bar and began a private practice. In 1834, his only child with Margaret, Kinsley W. Bingham (1838–1908), was born and his wife died four days later. He engaged in agricultural pursuits and held a number of local offices including
justice of the peace,
postmaster, and first judge of the
probate court of
Livingston County. Bingham became a member of the
Michigan State House of Representatives in 1837, was reelected four times and served as
speaker of the house in 1838–1839, and 1842. In 1839, Bingham married Mary Warden, the younger sister of his first wife, and in 1840 their only child was born, James W. Bingham (1840–1862). In 1846, he was elected as a
Democratic Representative from
Michigan's 3rd congressional district to the
30th and
31st Congresses, serving from March 4, 1847 to March 3, 1851. He was chairman of the
Committee on Expenditures in the Department of State in the 31st Congress. He was instrumental in securing approval for building the
Beaver Island Head Lighthouse on the south end of
Beaver Island in
Lake Michigan. He was strongly opposed to the expansion of
slavery and was one of minority of Democrats who supported the
Wilmot Proviso. Bingham was not a candidate for re-election in 1850 and resumed agricultural pursuits. He affiliated himself with the
Free Soil Party and was later a
Republican. ==Gubernatorial and senate career==