Carl Wimmer back in Utah after Nevada GOP debacle

"That is the problem right now with the Nevada Republican Party. They're not communicating," Wimmer said.

He said he does not expect the experience to hurt his reputation, despite a series of political setbacks. Wimmer, who lost a bid to be the GOP nominee for Utah's new 4th Congressional District seat to Saratoga Springs Mayor Mia Love, said he has not ruled out running for office again.

"I don't believe that my political capital has been damaged by this because the fact is, I entered into a very tough situation, one that nobody could have foreseen, one that nobody could have prepared for," he said.

University of Utah political science professor Matthew Burbank said Wimmer wasn't likely to see much political fallout from his brief association with the Nevada GOP.

"The people who know and support Carl Wimmer are not going to change their minds," Burbank said. "It's a footnote at best, I think."

Wimmer said he had looked forward to helping heal the rift between Nevada supporters of Paul and the GOP's presumptive presidential nominee, Mitt Romney. Wimmer said he likes both candidates, but now backs Romney.

"I like many of the things that Ron Paul stands for," Wimmer said. "And at one point, early on in the election, I'd made it clear that I would, if the election was today, I would have voted for him."

The divide within the party apparently is so bad in Nevada that Romney supporters and the national Republican Party are diverting resources to a new "shadow party" in the Silver State, called Team Nevada.

Wimmer's experience is unlikely to spark any attempt to find a solution to the Nevada Republican Party's problems, said University of Nevada, Las Vegas political science professor David Damore.

"It reinforces they're not ready for prime time," Damore said. "It just reminds you a lot of a high school student council."

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