Jesse Francis "Jeff" Bingaman Jr. (born October 3, 1943) is an American retired politician who served as a United States Senator from New Mexico from 1983 to 2013.

He advocated environmental issues such as for clean energy policies and protection of wildlife and public lands.

Bingaman took positions favoring immigration reform with increased border enforcement coupled with a guest worker program.

After he left the Senate, he returned to his alma mater Stanford Law School as a fellow of its Steyer–Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance.

[3] After graduating from Silver High School in 1961, Bingaman went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in government from Harvard College in 1965.

After his admission to the bar, Bingaman commenced work as a private practice attorney alongside his wife.

Limited to seek other statewide office by the state constitution, Bingaman announced on January 14, 1981, his candidacy for the U.S. Senate, the first to do so.

Generally, Bingaman kept a fairly low national profile, even though he was the ninth most senior member of the Senate at the time of his retirement.

[8][9] He formally retired on January 3, 2013, ending the second-longest Senate tenure in the state's history, behind only Domenici.

He believed in increased enforcement of borders to stem the flow of illegal immigrants, including more patrol agents and the use of surveillance cameras.

[13] Starting in 2006, Bingaman worked unsuccessfully to pass a bill that would have reduced greenhouse gas emissions via a "cap and trade" system.

They have one son, John, who served as the chief of staff for New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (2019–2020).