Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a former moderate House lawmaker who has governed as a liberal as his state’s chief executive, has emerged as the favored veepstakes candidate among progressives. 

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said after meeting with Walz over the weekend that he was “very impressed” by the potential vice-presidential contender. “I think you have an excellent governor who understands the needs of working families,” Sanders told Minnesota Public Radio.

“I hope very much that the vice president elects a running mate who will speak up and take on powerful corporate interests,” Sanders continued. “I think Tim Walz is somebody who could do that.”

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, has also touted Walz as her top choice, telling reporters late last month that “the things that he’s been able to do” as governor had made him appealing to her members. She pointed to his pro-labor record both in Washington and in St. Paul, his military service, and him being from a “rural town.”

“I do believe that Gov. Tim Walz has all of the qualities that the vice president needs to balance out the ticket. He’s a veteran, a teachers union member and obviously somebody that would be exciting in many ways,” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) told the Star Tribune last week. 

Walz also has the support of the two senators from his home state: Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN). 

The Minnesota governor has evolved politically since first entering political life. He was elected to the House during the Democratic wave of 2006, scoring an upset in a GOP-leaning rural district that had looked unlikely to flip. Walz held onto the southern Minnesota seat for six terms, assembling a largely moderate voting record in the process that included support for gun rights, Israel and the Keystone XL pipeline. 

That voting record earned him the endorsement of the National Rifle Association, something the advocacy group revoked during Walz’s successful 2018 gubernatorial campaign, when he ran on a platform of tightening gun restrictions. 

Walz also spoke at AIPAC’s 2010 conference, underscoring the importance of the U.S.-Israel alliance to the pro-Israel group. “Israel is our truest and closest ally in the region, with a commitment to values of personal freedoms and liberties, surrounded by a pretty tough neighborhood,” he said in his address that year.

Walz, a former high school geography teacher and football coach, began shifting to the left once he became governor and accelerated a progressive push when his party won full control of the state legislature in 2022 — during his successful bid for a second term in office. 

With a Democratic majority in the state House and Senate, Walz signed legislation ensuring protections for abortion access into law, as well as bills banning conversion therapy and ensuring that controversial gender-affirming care practices that are outlawed in some red states are permitted in Minnesota. 

He has also had to navigate choppy political waters in the Gopher State over the issue of criminal justice reform and anger over Israel’s war in Gaza. 

Walz was in his first term as governor when George Floyd was killed at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, sparking months of racial justice protests nationwide and calls for the U.S. Congress and state legislatures to pursue criminal justice reform efforts. He came out at the time for “substantive police reform,” eventually signing a bipartisan public safety bill into law, but stopped shy of ever formally backing far-left efforts to defund the police.  

Walz received widespread criticism for his handling of the violent riots that enveloped the Twin Cities after Floyd’s death; the governor called in the National Guard for help but rejected offers of federal military assistance. Walz later acknowledged his initial response to the riots had been an “abject failure.”

Minnesota is home to a sizable Muslim population, many of whom are represented by Omar in the Minneapolis area. More than 18% of the state’s Democratic primary voters chose to write in “uncommitted” rather than supporting President Joe Bidenas a means of protesting his support of Israel. Omar, a vocal critic of Israel, said that she did not vote in Minnesota’s presidential primary, though she praised uncommitted voters for using the primary to send a message to Biden. 

Walz said at the time that the party needed to focus on winning back those anti-Israel voters rather than dismissing their criticisms, though he also argued that centrist voters were also in play. 

“These are voters that are deeply concerned, as we all are. The situation in Gaza is intolerable, and I think trying to find a lasting, two state solution, certainly the president’s move towards humanitarian aid and asking us to get to a cease-fire, that’s what they’re asking, to be heard,” Walz told CNN on the evening of Super Tuesday. “That’s what they should be doing. We’ve gone through this before. We know that now, we make sure, we’ve got eight months. We start bringing these folks back in. We listen to what they’re saying. That’s a healthy thing that’s happening here.”

“Take them seriously. Their message is clear that they think this is an intolerable situation and that we can do more, and I think the president is hearing that,” he added.

Walz was vocal in his condemnation of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and Israel’s duty to defend itself, ordering all U.S. and Minnesota flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of the victims. He declined to respond to anti-Israel activists who descended on his home urging him to divest from Israel, even canceling a meeting with the local chapter of American Muslims for Palestine last month because of the group’s insistence on discussing divestment. 

As Jewish students began reporting feeling unsafe on their college campuses amid anti-Israel protests, Walz condemned any hostility and antisemitism while still expressing sympathy with the protesters’ broader message about the suffering in Gaza.

“I think when Jewish students are telling us they feel unsafe in that, we need to believe them, and I do believe them,” Walz told PBS in April. “Creating a space where political dissent or political rallying can happen is one thing. Intimidation is another.”

“All of us agree the situation in Gaza is intolerable. What happened on Oct. 7 was intolerable,” he added.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported Walz received AIPAC’s endorsement in 2010. While Walz spoke at the AIPAC conference that year, the group did not issue endorsements during that time.