Illuzzi was first elected to the Vermont Senate in 1980. From 1976 to 1979, he was a correspondent for the Burlington Free Press. In 1978, he interviewed Peter Galbraith when he was chair of the Vermont Democratic Party; some 40 years later, they served together in the Senate. At 27, Illuzzi was the youngest person ever elected to the Vermont Senate. He served from 1981 to 2013. He did not run for reelection in 2012, and was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for Vermont Auditor of Accounts.