Receiving both his bachelor's and master's degrees from Pittsburg State University, Otto served as principal at Central Heights Elementary (1976–1978) and McCune High School (1978–79).
[1] Otto is known for his expressing his political opinions in controversial ways.
In 2009, the representative was criticized by a national civil rights organization for a video he had posted on YouTube, called "RedNeck Rap", in which he criticized President Barack Obama while wearing a hat with the words "Opossum: The Other Dark Meat".
Otto claimed that the criticism was unfair and that the slogan on his hat was a reference to his "Ozark-American" heritage, not Obama.
[2] Otto also made a comparison between Obama and Adolf Hitler in a 2012 letter to the editor.