Republican Charlie Hatcher defeats Molder to win Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District

Former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher, a Republican, won Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District Tuesday, defeating Chaz Molder, the Democratic mayor of Columbia.

Hatcher replaces outgoing U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles in the 5th District. He defeated Ogles in the primary, despite President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Ogles. The president endorsed Hatcher after his primary victory, and he joined the president at a rally held in Clarksville in the final weeks of the campaign.

Hatcher received 51.7% of the vote over Molder’s 46.7% when The Associated Press called the race at 11:17 p.m.

Tennessee Republicans redrew the state’s U.S. House map in May, after the U.S. Supreme Court made it harder to challenge racially discriminatory voting maps.

In a special redistricting legislative session, GOP lawmakers changed the 5th District’s lines for the second time this decade. In 2022, state Republicans divided Nashville across the three congressional districts, successfully flipping the 5th from Democratic control to the GOP.

Ogles won the new seat that year, becoming the first Republican to win Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District seat since Reconstruction. 

In the most recent redrawing, the seat changed from incorporating a third of Nashville to including a third of Memphis. It now runs from the outskirts of Columbia, creating an upside-down L-shape that includes most of northwest and far-west Tennessee rural counties.

Both Hatcher and Molder entered the race for the 5th District before it was redrawn. 

Hatcher previously served as Tennessee commissioner of agriculture under Gov. Bill Lee before stepping down to run for Congress. Hatcher is a fifth-generation Williamson County dairy farmer, livestock veterinarian and operates Hatcher Family Dairy.

Molder is in his second term as the Columbia mayor, and received significant backing from the national Democratic Party and moderates like Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. He initially entered the campaign when the 5th District included his hometown and the partisan lean was less extreme. 

Molder initially built his campaign around Ogles, a member of the Freedom Caucus in the U.S. House, which includes the GOP’s most conservative members. 

Hatcher ran as a moderate in the primary, using his “hire a farmer” slogan to paint himself as a less extreme Republican than Ogles. 

Hatcher and Molder held a joint general election forum in the final weeks of the campaign, a rarity among Tennessee candidates for office. 

Hatcher said in the forum he agreed with Trump’s tariffs and that the president shouldn’t end his war in Iran without the condition of no nuclear weapons in the country. He also supported U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, even though he thought there were “instances” where they went too far. 

“They’ve backed off since,” Hatcher said. “I think we’re in a good spot now.”