At the beginning of his Senate tenure, Demuzio became part of a group of legislators called the "Crazy 8" which included, among others, Terry L. Bruce and Dawn Clark Netsch.
Keeping with his maverick ways, he ran for Secretary of State on a slate with independent Democratic Governor Dan Walker.
[2] In 1977, he secured state matching funds to create the Orr Research Center, a University of Illinois facility in Pike County.
[7] Outside of the Senate, he was a member of the Board of Trustees for Blackburn College in Carlinville, where the Demuzio Student Center is named in his honor.
He also advocated for legislation to increase the Rural Bond Bank's bond authorization and the maximum amount used to purchase securities issued by certain units of local government, ushered the creation of the Downstate Illinois Sports Facilities Authority through the Senate and wrote the Electronic Transfer Act.
[11] During the 2001 redistricting process, his district remained largely the same, though it added a small portion of Fayette County.
[15] Prior to being elected chair, two followers of Lyndon LaRouche won primaries for Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of State respectively.
Adlai Stevenson III, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, formed the Solidarity Party as he did not want to run alongside anybody associated with LaRouche's organization.
Subsequently, Demuzio and the party had to create a campaign to get Democratic voters to split their tickets.
It is funded by a check off on individual income tax forms and the money is then distributed to public or private entities in Illinois for the purpose of funding research applicable to colon cancer patients by the Department of Public Health.