He was a Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1925 to 1932, representing the electorate of Cootamundra.
Hoad first attempted to enter state politics at the 1922 election, but was unsuccessful in winning one of the three seats in the Cootamundra electorate.
In 1925, however, incumbent Labor MLA and future Premier James McGirr lost party endorsement, and Hoad, heavily supported by the railway unions, was elected to his seat.
[1] Cootamundra reverted to being a single-member electorate in 1928, and Hoad, as the Labor candidate, held off a challenge from the Country Party by 86 votes.
He was re-elected with a much larger margin in 1930, but was defeated in 1932 by Country Party candidate Bill Ross.