Chaz Molder
Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder announced Wednesday that he will not seek a third term, just a day after telling the Tennessee Lookout he is considering a 2026 run in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District.
Molder, a Columbia native, was first elected mayor in 2018 with 65 percent of the city’s vote and won reelection with just under 60 percent in 2022. Molder made the announcement that he would not run again in a video shared to his social media accounts Wednesday.
“Serving as the mayor of Columbia has been a dream come true for me," says Molder. "Each and every day I wake up with a sense of pride that I’m able to serve as the mayor of my hometown. Today I wanted to let you know that I will not be seeking a third term for the office of Columbia mayor. This was not an easy decision, but I feel it’s the right decision and it’s the right time to make this announcement rather than wait for later.”
On Tuesday, Molder told the Tennessee Lookout he is “strongly considering” a run as a Democrat against current U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, who previously served as mayor of Maury County — where Columbia is located — during Molder’s term.
“We deserve a congressman who wants to go to Washington to make local headlines for the right reasons, instead of attempting to make national headlines for the wrong reasons,” Molder said in a statement to the Lookout. “Our current congressman’s latest antics of attacking Belmont University are disturbing, and are becoming too familiar to all of us in the 5th Congressional District.”
While Columbia’s mayoral races are nonpartisan, Molder’s previous political donations have all been to Democratic candidates — including Hillary Clinton, former U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, and former Tennessee House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh.
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Maury County has been a struggle for Ogles’ previous Democratic challengers. In his runs for the 5th District seat, Ogles garnered nearly 70 percent of the county’s vote against his Democratic opponents, state Sen. Heidi Campbell in 2022 and activist Maryam Abolfazli in 2024. Since taking office, Ogles has been at the center of controversy frequently, taking aim at Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell and Belmont University and coming under fire for his campaign finance practices.
In Wednesday’s video, Molder does not announce any formal plans for a 5th Congressional District run but alludes to a political future beyond his mayoral seat.
“You may have heard that I’m considering a few options,” he says. “More on that later.”
If he chooses to run, Molder will join an already crowded Democratic field that includes Nashville's Metro Councilmember Mike Cortese, Nashville State Community College professor Joyce Neal and business leader Jim Torino.
Molder graduated from the University of Tennessee and later the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis. He works as an attorney at Mounger & Molder in Columbia.
A previous version of this article was published by our sister publication the Williamson Scene.
