[2] Hinshaw was born in Dexter, Missouri, and attended public schools in Michigan and Los Angeles, California.

This had been a controversial office and there had been calls from Orange County grand juries to change the extremely lenient treatment given to large landowners.

In 1972 Hinshaw entered the Republican primary for California's 39th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives.

Hinshaw scored a considerable upset in the Republican primary election, narrowly defeating Schmitz by 2.7 percentage points.

Hinshaw was reelected in 1974 but was defeated in the 1976 primary by State Assemblyman Robert Badham, who won the general election.