Panici was also responsible for fostering the political careers of numerous local officials, state legislators and judges during that time. He was instrumental in the campaigns of Governor Jim Thompson. The party became so powerful that Bloom Township High School hosted President Ronald Reagan in 1986 and then-Vice President George H. W. Bush in 1988. Panici even forged alliances with Democrats, and was partly responsible for bringing former Cook County Democratic chairman Edward Vrdolyak to the county's Republican party. Panici also organized a crossover vote in 1992 to defeat former congressman Gus Savage in the Democratic primary.