Hooten discusses in interviews how he loved music from a young age and he bought his first trumpet from a local antique store.

[1][2] Hooten studied music in college and worked part time as a Calvin Klein model.

[2] He later performed Amazing Grace at the Memorial Ceremony for the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing.

His opponent, fellow Democrat John Morgan, challenged his candidacy by claiming that Hooten was not properly registered with the State Election Board.

His campaign was harmed when reports of a 2001 conviction for DUI and leaving the scene of an accident surfaced.

[10] Within a month of taking office, Hooten terminated five employees who would go on to file wrongful termination claims, charging that they were fired because they had been volunteers for the campaign of the incumbent, Carolyn Caudill, whom Hooten defeated in a primary runoff for the GOP nomination.

According to the lawsuit Hooten reduced Porter's work responsibilities and pay, eventually requiring her to sit in a rocking chair at the entrance to the County Clerk's Office as a greeter before finally deciding to fire her.

In it, Hooten details a team-building trip that would require employees to face their fears, participate in physical activities that would make them sore, and engage in mandatory alcohol use.