In the 2007 primary, at the age of 23, Hines, the youngest candidate, defeated seven others to advance to a runoff against Una Anderson, a former Orleans Parish School Board President. Hines defeated Anderson in the runoff, earning 53% of the vote. District 95 comprised the Uptown, Carrollton, and Hollygrove neighborhoods of New Orleans. but was shifted to Livingston Parish with the 2011 redistricting. While serving his term, Hines switched political parties to the Republican party. In doing so, he shifted the balance of power in the state's lower chamber from Democrats to Republicans. The seat remained Republican in the 2011 elections with the victory of Sherman Q. Mack to succeed Walker. Hines is a former Democrat who turned Republican in November 2010. After indicating that he would not seek reelection to the House, Hines announced his candidacy for Louisiana Secretary of State in the October 22nonpartisan blanket primary against incumbent, and ultimate victor, Republican Tom Schedler of St. Tammany Parish. Hines withdrew from the election three days after Louisiana House SpeakerJim Tucker announced he was running for the seat. Thereafter, Hines said that he would seek no office in 2011 but would return to elective politics at some time in the future. The son of law firm Jones Walker Managing PartnerBill Hines and Mary Hines, Hines was born and reared in New Orleans. After attending Isidore Newman School, he graduated from Metairie Park Country Day School in Metairie in Jefferson Parish. He received the bachelor's degree in 2007 from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Michigan. He then completed the three-week Executive Education program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was a financial analyst at Capital Investment Management, Inc., in New Orleans from 2007–2013. He was also vice president of the sales company, Direct Digital Marketing, LLC.
Post-politics
After temporarily relocating to New Jersey in 2013, Hines served as "Special Projects" Manager to the President of the Prudential Center and New Jersey Devils. In December 2014, Hines left the Prudential Center and NJ Devils after he started Will Walker Records, an independent record label based in New Orleans. Hines signed Joel Adams, an 18-year-old Australian pop singer/songwriter, and is currently pursuing a career in music business. Hines resides in New Orleans part-time and travels frequently, spending his summers in cooler locations. In January 2016, Hines endorsed Senator Marco Rubio in his bid to be the GOP Presidential nominee.
