This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Carl Wimmer has a job. For real this time.
The former Utah lawmaker, who had lost his bid for the GOP nomination in Utah's 4th Congressional District to Mia Love in April and who drove to Las Vegas in May for a Republican Party job he never actually had, is now moving to Gunnison to be a full-time police officer.
He said he started the job Wednesday.
"I was hoping to work here quite some time before word got out," Wimmer said.
Wimmer said the job will split his duties — being a school resource officer during the academic year and teaching a criminal justice class while being a patrol officer in those off-months.
The job is a return to his law-enforcement background. He served as a police officer in the West Valley City Police Department and the South Jordan police for 11 years — including a stint on the SWAT team. He's still operating his ZDI Tactical training, where he offers weapons training. The Gunnison Police Department had posted the job and listed the salary range as between $16 and $19 an hour plus benefits.
"It's one of those things where I have a business in Salt Lake County — and I could've continued doing that — but I have 8½ years left before I qualify for the law enforcement pension," Wimmer said. "So as we were talking and as I was running for Congress — I'd visited Sanpete County quite a few times, we fell in love with it — and said if I win the congressional race, we may relocate here."
He said he saw the opening and thought "it would be a great job."
"I had the interview and got the offer," he said.
That's a stark contrast to what happened a few months ago, when Wimmer interviewed for a job in Las Vegas with Jesse Law, who he was told was the Nevada Republican Party's acting director — but really wasn't. When Wimmer got to Las Vegas with plans to start raising money for the party, the chairman at the time, Michael McDonald, said he'd never heard of Wimmer and that he certainly didn't have the job.
An executive committee in Nevada also didn't approve the hiring of Wimmer.
Wimmer eventually came back to Salt Lake City and said, "No one knows who is really in charge within the framework of the Nevada State Party."
The 37-year-old earlier this year ended his three-term stint as a state representative from Herriman, where he helped establish the conservative Patrick Henry Caucus. He was known on Capitol Hill for pushing for less stringent gun control laws, anti-abortion proposals and trying to roll back in-state tuition for illegal immigrants.
He said his move back to law enforcement shouldn't be seen as a step away from politics, however.
"I will never go away from politics — that's one thing that is certain," Wimmer said. "I still have my home in Herriman, so I'm keeping a close eye on the 4th Congressional race. I think Mia Love can win, but if she doesn't, that could be a possibility to run there again."