To advance his political career, he legally changed his middle name from "Anthony" to "(Low Tax)", including the parentheses.

After being convicted for the October 1998 murder of his election opponent, incumbent Tennessee State Senator Tommy Burks, he was given a life sentence in prison.

[1] In 1996, he legally changed his middle name from Anthony to "(Low Tax)" and ran successfully for the post of Putnam County tax assessor, defeating a 14-year incumbent after a campaign in which he did not make any public appearances nor participate in debates, instead relying heavily on negative campaign ads.

[1][5] As tax assessor, Looper used his office's equipment to send numerous press releases to Tennessee news media, making positive claims about himself and alleging various shortcomings on the part of other local officials.

The Cookeville Herald-Citizen newspaper regularly reported the Republican tax assessor's bizarre antics and public verbal assaults of Putnam County elected officials.

[7][8] Looper also faced legal problems from a former girlfriend, who sued him for $1.2 million, saying that she became pregnant and bore a child after he raped her and that he had used his official position to steal her house.

[9] After Looper's removal from office and conviction for murder, prosecutors decided not to pursue the criminal indictments filed in March 1998.

Tommy Burks' body was found with his head resting on the steering wheel of his pickup truck and a single bullet wound above his left eye.

[11] Looper later turned up in Hot Springs, Arkansas, where he met with a friend, United States Marine Corps recruiter Joe Bond.

[14][15] One of her first initiatives as state senator was to introduce legislation to ensure that the name of any candidate who dies within 40 days of an election could remain on the ballot, thus preventing the situation that occurred after her husband's death.

Ultimately, Looper's trial was not moved; jurors were brought in from Sullivan County to reduce the chance that they had been influenced by pretrial publicity.

By the time of the trial, a work crew had found the weapon apparently used in the murder, near the junction of Tennessee State Route 111 and I-40.

[citation needed] Tennessee Bureau of Investigation expert Sandy Evans testified that the tire tracks at the scene came from Looper's Audi.

[18] The prosecuting attorney, Tony Craighead, told the jury that Looper had intended to "win this election with a Smith & Wesson.

[4][19] Despite forensic and eyewitness evidence presented at trial, Looper's mother maintained her son's innocence to his death, and beyond.

[27] An autopsy revealed that he had a heart condition caused by a combination of high blood pressure and hardening arteries; he also had a toxic level of antidepressants in his system.

[36] In 2018 Loew again ran with the name "Lower Taxes" on the ballot and ended up in second place with 23.58%, forcing incumbent Jeffrey Prang into a runoff.