Heil became qualified as an expert welder and traveled extensively in South America, installing welded steel track for streetcars.

In 1933, he was appointed by President Franklin Roosevelt to head the state advisory board for the National Recovery Administration.

Winning the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 1938, Heil went on to defeat his Progressive opponent-incumbent Philip F. La Follette.

A controversial innovation was his creation of a Division of Departmental Research, designed to achieve greater efficiency in state administration.

[3] He was re-elected in 1940, but lost to Progressive Orland Steen Loomis in 1942, according to the New York Times, because of his unpopular labor record.