He worked for the Winnipeg Free Press newspaper as a reporter, covering fields as diverse as crime and horse racing.
[2] He was first elected to the legislature in a by-election on December 30, 1956 in the mid-northern constituency of St. George,[1] defeating his Progressive Conservative and CCF opponents by a comfortable margin.
He served as a backbench supporter of Douglas Campbell's government for the next year and a half.
The Liberals were defeated provincially in the 1958 election, although Guttormson won his own seat by a wider margin than before.
Guttormson supported the federal and provincial Liberal parties for his entire adult life.