The governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, has quickly emerged as a shortlist candidate to be Vice President Harris’s running mate, using his military and teaching experience, as well as his rural Midwestern roots, to make the case for himself. Democrats from across the ideological spectrum have taken notice, and some of the biggest names in the party are convinced he has what it takes. 

Mr. Walz, who was first elected governor in 2018 and re-elected in 2022, has a long list of liberal-leaning accomplishments as chief executive to brag about — free school breakfasts and lunches, legal recreational cannabis, investments in green energy, labor protections, universal background checks for firearms purchases, paid family and medical leave, and deregulation of the housing permitting process to expedite construction. 

The policies may not have been expected from someone with his personal background. A son of rural Minnesota, he graduated from high school in a class of just two dozen students. Following his graduation, he spent 24 years in the Army National Guard, and 20 years as a public school teacher. For 12 years, he represented ruby red southern Minnesota in Congress, where he had an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association. 

As Ms. Harris weighs her options for the vice presidential nod, many are pushing for Mr. Walz due to his record as governor and his pre-elected personal life. In his home state, several federal elected officials have endorsed the governor, including Senator Klobuchar. Congresswoman Betty McCollum, a very liberal member representing St. Paul, and two moderate swing district members, Congresswoman Angie Craig and Congressman Dean Phillips, have all said Ms. Harris should tap Mr. Walz. 

“I think [Harris] would be very well served by selecting Tim Walz, a man with both legislative and executive experience, of course as a congressman and a governor of Minnesota,” Mr. Phillips told the Star Tribune. “Someone who hails kind of from the heartland, who understands rural Americans and is folksy and authentic and tough and smart. And I would be thrilled to see her make that choice.”

Minnesota’s attorney general, Keith Ellison, a longtime ally of Senator Sanders, stopped short of endorsing Mr. Walz outright, but has praised the governor for his accomplishments. “I’ve worked with the guy for years. @Tim_Walz is legit,” Mr. Ellison wrote on X. 

Outside of elected office, Mr. Walz has strong backing in the labor movement, a key demographic for Democrats that has — among rank-and-file members, especially those who did not attend college — been shifting toward the Republican Party in recent years. 

On Monday, more than two dozen labor bosses in Minnesota signed an open letter endorsing Mr. Walz for vice president, saying that “​​it is essential to choose a candidate for vice president who can deliver on working families priorities once in office and be an essential partner in winning in November.”

“He knows education, agriculture, immigration, the culture of the Midwest and military affairs,” the labor leaders write in their letter. “He has a biography and legislative accomplishments that deliver key states. He will walk into any forum as an effective spokesperson for working people. He has a demonstrated talent for exposing the opposition as liars, race-baiters and just plain ‘weird’ (his word).”

A former House colleague of Mr. Walz, Beto O’Rourke, says the governor is one of the few potential veep candidates who can go on the “offense” against President Trump and Senator Vance. 

“The real deal,” Mr. O’Rourke wrote on X in response to a video of Mr. Walz on cable news that went viral. “High school teacher, football coach, command sergeant major in the Guard … and he just led the progressive miracle in Minnesota: codified abortion rights, restored voting rights, $1b in affordable housing & strong labor victories. And the guy can go on offense.”

Among the commentariat, Mr. Walz has won some surprising fans. A longtime supporter of Mr. Sanders who has seen his star rise as a fierce critic of Israel in recent months, Mehdi Hassan, has called on Ms. Harris to tap the Minnesota governor. 

“First, there’s his personality,” Mr. Hassan writes in the Guardian of Mr. Walz. “The 60-year-old governor would bring energy, humor and some much-needed bite to the Democratic presidential ticket. There’s a reason why his videos have been going viral in recent days. Tim Kaine he ain’t. Pick the charismatic and eloquent Walz and you have America’s Fun Uncle ready to go.”

On policy, Mr. Hassan makes the same case other Democrats have: “You will struggle to find a Democratic governor who has achieved more than Walz in the space of a single legislative session. Not [Governor] Shapiro. Not [Governor] JB Pritzker of Illinois. Not even Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan.”