Upon graduation from Massac County high school in Metropolis, Windhorst earned an associate degree from Shawnee Community College.
In 1997, Windhorst earned a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism from University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.
In 2000, Windhorst earned a JD degree from Southern Illinois University School of Law.
[2] Windhorst was an elected State's Attorney for Massac County.
Windhorst defeated appointed Democratic incumbent Natalie Phelps Finnie by a margin of 15.2 percentage points.