Chaz Molder

Chaz Molder's first date with his future wife, Elizabeth, was on the University of Tennessee's tennis courts; he later proposed after a scavenger hunt across campus.¹ They have three children, and Elizabeth is a former public school teacher.² Their children attend local public schools, and the family worships at First United Methodist Church in Columbia, where his father is a longtime Sunday school teacher.²

Born and raised in Columbia, Molder attended the city's public schools, graduated from the University of Tennessee and earned his law degree at the University of Memphis.¹ He returned to Columbia in 2009 to practice law, raise a family and pursue the political career he had already described in his high school yearbook.¹

Molder was elected mayor in 2018 and reelected in 2022.¹ In 2019, he helped form Columbia's first Mayor's Youth Council, giving younger residents a role in civic life.¹ Away from City Hall, he runs marathons and has participated in the Mule Day 5k and Duck River Trail Run.²

His congressional campaign proposes banning stock trading by members of Congress, strengthening workers' organizing rights and lowering household costs.³ On health care, he emphasizes protecting rural hospitals, expanding insurance coverage and investing in preventive services.³ Molder faces Republican Charlie Hatcher and two independents.⁴