Dixon served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1951 to 1963 and as a member of the Illinois State Senate from 1963 to 1971, serving as Minority Whip for part of that time.
In the fall of 1970, Karl Rove, a future White House Deputy Chief of Staff in the George W. Bush Administration, used a false identity to enter the office of Dixon's campaign for Illinois Treasurer and stole 1000 sheets of paper with campaign letterhead.