HERRIMAN, Utah -- He isn't even a resident of Nevada, yet he's been hired to work for the Nevada Republican Party. Former Utah lawmaker Carl Wimmer will be commuting to Las Vegas to be the Silver State’s GOP's Political Director.
"Just the very basic things that we've been doing here in Utah we're going take and plug in Nevada; I think it's going to be an exciting job," says Wimmer.
Wimmer resigned as a Utah Representative to run for Utah's Fourth Congressional District. He lost to Mia Love during the state convention. Wimmer wants to stay in politics, even if it means going out of state to do it.
Political analyst Tim Chambless says Wimmer's new job is powerless.
"It's like herding political cats," says Chambless, a political professor at the University of Utah and Academic Outreach Coordinator for the Hinckley Institute of Politics. "He's trying to bring people together that will vote for the nominee and right now there are folks that are doing so much finger pointing in the state of Nevada that for a person whose not even a resident of Nevada, who is a resident of Utah to try to bring these folks together is going to be very difficult to do."
Wimmer says he’ll face at least 80-hour weeks while still keeping his home and family in Herriman.
"I'm going to be living in Las Vegas most of the time. I will fly home or drive home on the weekends but most of my time will be spent in Las Vegas," says Wimmer.
The former Utah lawmaker has political support in the Beehive State. He served several terms in the Utah House of Representatives and helped create the Patrick Henry Caucus. But Nevada is the biggest swing state in the West, and that, according to Chambless, is just one of the many challenges Wimmer is facing sat the new Political Director for Nevada's GOP.
"I think really the question is,is he qualified to be successful doing the job of political director for a statewide party? He's never held that position in the state of Utah and he's never been a resident of Nevada," says Chambless.
Wimmer says he's focused on helping the Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, win the Silver State. However, after the election, Wimmer says anything is possible and won't rule out running for office again in Utah.
Chambless thinks Wimmer still has a political future in the Beehive State; he's just not sure he can hack it in Nevada.
