He faced Larry Metz, Johnny Smith, Randy Wiseman and JoAnn Huggins in the Republican primary.

He won the Republican primary unopposed and, in the general election, faced Eunice Garbutt, the Democratic nominee, whom he defeated with 67% of the vote.

[5] Hays won the general election with 55% of the vote, leading Democrat Christopher Flint with 32% and no-party-affiliation candidate Scott Larson with 12%.

His suggestion of a racially based double standard led to statewide criticism from fellow senators, representatives and the media.

[8] In 2014, Hays wrote legislation that was signed into law by Governor Rick Scott that "gives county school districts final responsibility for selecting instructional materials", allowing parents to protest textbooks at public hearings on the basis that some books "unfairly presented foreign cultures and doctrines...in public schools".