After the Korean War he attended college at the Southern Technical Institute in Dallas, Texas, and later went to the University of Arkansas.
Wingfield became a respected employee at the Bank of Delight, where his savviness and intelligence, as well as his well connected family, helped him quickly rise through the ranks.
The most competitive part of the race was the primary, which he narrowly won, defeating fellow State Representative Bobby Tullis by just over 3 percentage points.
In 2002, when Democrat Jimmie Lou Fisher, the long time State Treasurer of Arkansas, having served the maximum number of terms under the 1994 terms limits approved by Arkansas voters, ran against incumbent Republican Mike Huckabee, Gus Wingfield ran for her open State Treasurer Seat.
He won the Democratic primary easily, and ended up winning what was a surprisingly competitive and close statewide race against Randy Bynum.