Career
Hayes ran for a seat to the Alberta Legislature in the 1935 Alberta general election. He swept to power with almost 60% of the popular vote in the Stony Plain electoral district. He defeated three other candidates in the race including United Farmers incumbent Donald Macleod who finished a distant third.
Hayes died on April 2, 1939 from a reported heart seizure late into his first term in office at his home in Stony Plain, Alberta.
He was buried in a cemetery in Edmonton. A large portion of the Social Cr caucus turned out including Premier William Aberhart.