In 1920, an amendment to the U.S. Constitution gave all women of the United States voting privileges, the same year that Looney ran for and was elected to the Oklahoma Senate.
Looney's father was a lawyer and as a child she enjoyed reading his law books in her spare time.
Doc had served as the postmaster of Hollis, Oklahoma, and in the event of his death, Looney succeeded him in that job and became the postmistress.
[2] Looney sold her musical instruments in order to purchase farming equipment and filed a claim on a quarter section of land one mile from Hollis and with the help of her ten-year-old son planted their first crop of 20 acres.
In 1906, a year prior to statehood, she received the land patent for the farm and Looney moved her family to Hollis in order for the children to attend better schools.
In 1916, she was elected as the Harmon County Clerk, and served in all of these public offices before women had received the constitutional right to vote.