Hayes ran unsuccessfully against Davis for governor in the 1970 Republican primary. He later became a Democrat and resided in Burlington.[3] He served as Legal Counsel to Governor Thomas P. Salmon, was chairman of the Vermont State Board of Education, and was appointed a Judge of the Superior Court.[3] While on the Superior Court, he served as chief administrative judge.[3]
In 1985, Hayes was appointed a justice of the Vermont Supreme Court, succeeding Wynn Underwood; Hayes served in this position until his death.[8] He was an advocate of attorneys paying greater attention to state constitutions generally, and the Vermont constitution in particular, and suggested that too much deference was paid to "buzzwords" from federal court decisions.[9] In Vermont v. Jewett, Hayes argued that state constitutions should serve as consistent protection for the rights and liberties of a state's citizens, no matter how the decisions of the federal courts ebbed and flowed as membership and political outlook changed over time.[9]
At the time of his death, he faced Judicial Conduct Board charges for alleged misconduct along with fellow justices William C. Hill and Ernest W. Gibson III.[8] Hill retired, and Vermont Judicial Conduct Board charges against Gibson were dropped in August 1987.[10] (Wheel was later convicted on charges arising from the case; Hill was found to have violated rules regarding judicial conduct.)[11]
Hayes died in Boston, Massachusetts, on May 5, 1987, while being treated for lung cancer.[8][12] He was buried at Saint Marys Cemetery in Fair Haven.
He was married to Jennie Christy.[3] They had three children, two sons and a daughter.[3]