 During the presidential election of 1860, Haynes was an at-large elector for John C. Breckinridge, a position which required him to canvass the entire state.At one point, he jointly campaigned with his brother-in-law, Nathaniel G. Taylor, who was an elector for John Bell.In January 1861, following Abraham Lincoln's victory, Haynes joined a growing chorus of Tennesseans who called for the state to align itself with the burgeoning Confederate States of America.