Chaz Molder

Chaz Molder is the mayor of Columbia, Tennessee, an attorney first elected mayor in 2018 and re-elected in 2022; he announced he would not seek a third term. A University of Tennessee and University of Memphis law school graduate, he is the Democratic nominee for the open 5th District seat and is running on lowering costs, health care access and labor protections.[1][2][3]

Chaz Molder was born and raised in Columbia, Tennessee, according to a Nashville Banner candidate questionnaire, and graduated from Columbia Central High School; in his words, he is a product of Columbia's public schools.[5][1][2] He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 2005 and a law degree from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law in 2009.[1][2] He works as an attorney.[1][5]

Molder was elected mayor of Columbia in 2018 with 65 percent of the vote; his campaign website says he was then the youngest mayor in Tennessee and in the city's 200-plus-year history.[2][3] He won a second term in 2022 with just under 60 percent of the vote and then announced he would not run for a third term.[3] According to his campaign website, as mayor he has passed eight balanced budgets with no property tax increases and says he saved taxpayers $10.5 million through fiscal management, and he formed the Columbia Mayor's Youth Council.[2]

Molder won the August 6, 2026 Democratic primary for the 5th District with 40.9 percent of the vote.[1][4] His campaign website says he is married to Elizabeth Molder, that they have three children in local public schools, and that the family attends First United Methodist Church in Columbia.[2]

Researched from the cited sources on 2026-10-21.