Carl Wimmer

Early life, education, and law enforcement career

Wimmer was born in 1975 in Salt Lake, Utah. He was raised in Herriman, Utah. He attended Utah Peace Officer Standards and Training and Salt Lake Community College, and is currently working towards his B.A. In Religious studies at Liberty University.

He was a police officer for the West Valley City and South Jordan City Police Departments, and currently works as a police officer for Gunnison City. He is a member of the American Center for Law and Justice and a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association (NRA). He was awarded a Police Star in 2006, South Jordan Officer of the Year in 2001, and the Outstanding Service Award in 2004. He also owned a small landscaping company.

Elections

In 2006, he ran for Utah's Herriman-based 52nd House District, vacated by incumbent Republican State Representative Dave Hogue, who ran for the Utah Senate. He won the primary with 57% of the vote, and the general election with 66% of the vote. He won re-election in 2008 with 65% and in 2010 with 79%.

Tenure

In the state legislature, Wimmer introduced the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Survival Act, which was signed into law in 2009. The bill disbanded the statewide automatic external defibrillator (AED) database, replacing it with systems operated by local emergency medical dispatch centers, and amended civil liability immunity provisions pertaining to AEDs.

In 2010, Wimmer introduced legislation prohibiting a state agency or department from implementing federal health care reform passed by Congress after March 1, 2010, without the state legislature's authorization.

He was the first legislator in the nation to introduce a state constitutional amendment mandating that union organizing be done by secret ballot, as a direct response to federal card check legislation.

He got an A+ from the NRA and lead the movement to defeat the ban on legally concealed weapons at the University of Utah. He also sponsored legislation to increase penalties for Utahns convicted of drive-by shootings by requiring that such crimes be prosecuted as aggravated assault and allowing prosecutors to simultaneously pursue felony charges of illegally discharging a firearm.

Wimmer lead the fight in Utah against abortion, introducing several bills relating to abortion, including legislation protecting doctors and hospitals who refuse to perform abortion on religious grounds, blocking a provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would allow state health insurance exchanges to provide coverage for abortions, and requiring clinics that provide abortion services to apply for a license and be subject to a biannual inspection.

Wimmer supports repealing the Sixteenth Amendment.

Committee assignments

Other political activities

He is a co-founder of the state sovereignty group, The Patrick Henry Caucus, a nationwide coalition of legislators and grassroots activists who are committed to restoring the balance of power between states and the federal government. He is a national board member of Pass the Balanced Budget Amendment. He is also the Chairman of the Utah Family Action Council.

2012 congressional election

Wimmer resigned from his Utah house seat in January 2012 to run for the newly created Utah's 4th congressional district. He lost at the Republican state convention to Mia Love. Mia Love lost to incumbent, Jim Matheson.

Personal life

Carl Wimmer is a devout Christian, He is married to his wife Sherry, and they have three children as well as two foster boys who both have severe disabilities. They reside in Herriman, Utah.