Political ads · 2026 · TN

Tennessee House District 5 2026: the ads, and who's paying for them

Charlie Hatcher won · 51.7% to 46.7% · Called by AP on Nov 4

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Charlie Hatcher (Republican) and Chaz Molder (Democrat) are the nominees for Tennessee's 5th congressional district in the November 3, 2026 general election. By their latest FEC reports, Charlie Hatcher's campaign had raised $1.8 million (through October 14, 2026) and Chaz Molder's campaign $3.5 million (through October 14, 2026). Outside groups have reported $384,000 for Charlie Hatcher and $326,000 against; $199,000 for Chaz Molder and $150,000 against.

Charlie Hatcher (REP), Chaz Molder (DEM). 2 others filed with the FEC; any ads they ran are below. 0 ads analyzed, 0 with at least one technique in the copy. Newest first. The paid-for-by line is the advertiser's own filing.

Also on every Tennessee ballot: 3 statewide ballot measures → The ballot wording and the official arguments, read for rhetorical techniques.

How to vote in Tennessee

From Tennessee's official election office. Each line links to the official page it came from.

Registration	Register by Mon, Oct 5 (30 days before the election; mail forms must be postmarked by then) (passed)Source: sos.tn.gov ↗Source: sos.tn.gov ↗
Early voting in person	Wed, Oct 14 to Thu, Oct 29 (In person; hours and locations set by county election commission) (passed)Source: sos.tn.gov ↗
By mail	Mail voting needs a reason the state accepts (Reasons include being out of county, student, age 60+, illness/disability, candidate, CDL work, permanent absentee list); request a ballot by Sat, Oct 24 (Request must be received by county election commission); return it by Tue, Nov 3 (Received by close of polls (8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT); by mail only, no hand delivery) (passed)Source: sos.tn.gov ↗Source: sos.tn.gov ↗
Election Day	Tue, Nov 3. Polls: Opening varies by county; all polls close 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT (passed)Source: sos.tn.gov ↗
ID at the polls	Photo ID required: TN or federal government-issued photo ID (expired OK); no student IDsSource: sos.tn.gov ↗

Check your registration and polling place ↗ Tennessee's official election site ↗

Checked October 8, 2026. Rules can change; confirm with the official site before you go.

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Money in this race

From FEC filings for 2025–26. Outside spending is money a group spends on its own about a candidate — TV and online ads, mail, canvassing. It is not a donation to the campaign, and the candidate does not control it. Supporting means it was spent to help that candidate win; Opposing means it was spent to defeat them, usually on attack ads. Groups report it within 24 or 48 hours as the election nears. Raised is the campaign's own fundraising, as of its latest quarterly report. Largest donors come from each outside spender's own FEC receipts, with each donor's share of its itemized receipts; donors under $100,000 are not named. People are shown with the employer and occupation they reported. A donor that is itself a political committee is shown with its own largest donors. Companies and nonprofits don't report their funders to the FEC, so the trail ends there, and the page says so.

Charlie Hatcher (REP)

Raised: $1.8M through 2026-10-14 individuals $1.5M · PACs $168K · party $1,250 · candidate's own money, incl. loans $144K · cash on hand $475K
Outside spending: $326K opposing Hatcher · $384K supporting Hatcher · latest reported 2026-10-23
Largest outside spenders: CIVIC RENEWAL FUND INC. — $384K supporting Hatcher FREEDOM CAUCUS FUND — $273K opposing Hatcher Largest donors: Michael T Rydin $8.8M (76%), Retired, Retired; HOUSE FREEDOM ACTION $350K (3%); KOMADA, ANNA $253K (2%); Steven Cowles $205K (2%), Retired, Retired; Steven W Corbett $200K (2%) THE TIME IS NOW PAC — $52K opposing Hatcher BUILDING TOGETHER — $316 opposing Hatcher

Bundled through PACs: none reported · FEC bulk data of 2026-11-01

4 PACs gave directly — alphabetical; the legal limit is $5,000 per election

BEV BURGER FOR ALDERMAN $1,000
EVANS PETREE PC PAC $1,000
JOHN STEVENS FOR SENATE $1,000
RE-ELECT ROGERS C. ANDERSON $500

All filings at the FEC ↗

Chaz Molder (DEM)

Raised: $3.5M through 2026-10-14 individuals $3.1M · PACs $322K · party $5,750 · from the candidate's other committees $82K · cash on hand $560K
Outside spending: $150K opposing Molder · $199K supporting Molder · latest reported 2026-10-30
Largest outside spenders: TENNESSEE RISE PAC — $100K supporting Molder Largest donors: Steve Phillips $100K (24%), Self Employed, Attorney CIVIC RENEWAL FUND INC. — $75K opposing Molder MAGA INC. — $75K opposing Molder Largest donors: FORIS DAX, INC. $35.0M (8%) (an organization: its own funders aren't reported to the FEC); Diane Hendricks $25.0M (6%), Hendricks Holding CO Inc., Chairman; Miriam O Adelson $25.0M (6%), LAS Vegas Sands Corporation, Director OF Community Development; GEMINI TRUST COMPANY $24.4M (6%) (an organization: its own funders aren't reported to the FEC); Jeff Yass $16.0M (4%), Susquehanna International GRP, Managing Director THE TIME IS NOW PAC — $40K supporting Molder THE PROGRESS FUND — $34K supporting Molder Largest donors: Phillip Lawson $100K (100%), LHP Capital, Chairman and 2 more

Bundled through PACs: $11K through 1 PAC · FEC bulk data of 2026-11-01 ZINC COLLECTIVE PAC — $11K from 4 gifts

63 PACs gave directly — alphabetical; the legal limit is $5,000 per election

ACADEMY OF RAIL LABOR ATTORNEYS POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $2,500
ACTBLUE $3,500
ALL IN PAC $2,500
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR JUSTICE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (AAJ PAC) $2,500
AMERICAN MOSAIC PAC $1,000
AMERIPAC: THE FUND FOR A GREATER AMERICA $5,000
BEEPAC (BUILDING ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT PAC) $2,000
BLUE MAJORITY PAC $1,000
BLUE MOMENTUM PAC $1,000
BLUECROSS BLUESHIELD OF TENNESSEE INC POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (BCBSTN PAC) $3,000
BRIDGE THE GAP PAC $1,000
BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS & TRAINMEN PAC FUND $2,500
BUILDING OUR BASE PAC (BOBPAC) $1,000
CA LUV PAC (CALIFORNIA LEADERSHIP UNITED FOR VICTORY PAC) $10K
CALL TO SERVE $1,000
COHEN FOR CONGRESS $3,500
COMMITTEE FOR A DEMOCRATIC FUTURE $2,000
COMMITTEE TO ELECT MELVIN BURGESS $250
COMMITTEE TO RE-ELECT STRATTON BONE $500
D.R.I.V.E. - DEM, REP, IND VOTER ED (THE PAC OF THE INT'L BRHD OF TEAMSTERS) $5,000
DEMOCRACY SUMMER LEADERSHIP PAC $10K
DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY FUND $5,000
DR. KIM SCHRIER FOR CONGRESS $1,000
EQUALITY PAC $2,500
FAIR SHOT PAC $10K
FIGHT FOR PROGRESS PAC $1,000
FLIP THE CONGRESS PAC $5,000
FRIENDS OF BOB FREEMAN $1,000
FRIENDS OF DWAYNE THOMPSON $1,350
FUTURE FORUM PAC $2,500
GETTING RESULTS BY ENGAGING THE GRASSROOTS PAC $1,000
GO TIGERS PAC $5,000
HMP $10K
INNOVATION FOR GOOD PAC $10K
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $10K
JAMIE RASKIN FOR CONGRESS $2,000
JEFFRIES FOR CONGRESS $4,000
JOBS, EDUCATION, & FAMILIES FIRST JEFF PAC $10K
KATHERINE CLARK FOR CONGRESS $4,000
LA BAMBA PAC $1,500
LEADING PEOPLE FORWARD PAC $1,000
LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS ACTION FUND $3,600
LORI TRAHAN FOR CONGRESS COMMITTEE $1,000
MACHINISTS NON PARTISAN POLITICAL LEAGUE OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS & AEROSPACE WORKERS $5,000
NANCY PELOSI FOR CONGRESS $2,000
NEW DEMOCRAT COALITION ACTION FUND $7,500
NOT SO OLD FASHIONED PAC $1,000
PAC OF APPLES $1,000
PAC TO THE FUTURE $5,000
PATRIOT PAC $3,500
PETE AGUILAR FOR CONGRESS $4,000
PROGRESSIVE TURNOUT PROJECT $5,000
SAVE DEMOCRACY PAC $5,000
SCHAKOWSKY FOR CONGRESS $1,000
SCHNEIDER FOR CONGRESS $2,000
SHORE PAC $1,000
SILICORN VALLEY PAC $1,000
SMART TD PAC $5,000
SUNFLOWER SEEDS PAC $2,000
THE PROGRESS FUND $4,500
TOMORROW PAC $1,000
UA UNION PLUMBERS & PIPEFITTERS VOTE! PAC (UNITED ASSOCIATION OF JOURNEYMEN AND APPRENTICES OF THE PLUMBING & PIPEFITTING INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA) $5,000
WOLVERINE PAC $1,000

All filings at the FEC ↗

No campaign ads analyzed for this race yet.

What this page is

An ad is on this page because its own "Paid for by" line is a campaign in this race; or it comes from a national Senate group and ran mostly in TN; or it ran mostly in TN and names a candidate — unless its sponsor is a campaign for some other office. Ads from outside groups appear alongside the campaigns' own.
Campaigns run one text as many separate ads. Identical text from the same sponsor is one card here, marked with its number of variants.
A technique is a specific rhetorical move in the wording, found by our model and explained in one line. It is not a claim that the ad is false.
Claims are checked when a reader asks: press "Check this ad's claims" on a card. Running a check and seeing its verdicts are part of Semblen Pro, because each check costs money to run; anyone can see which claims an ad makes. The ten ads with the most money behind them in each race are checked ahead of time.
Claim verdicts say what the cited sources say. A verdict that an ad is wrong or misleading is shown only when it cites an established fact-checker or an institutional record — Congress, a federal agency, a court — and its confidence is not low; a weaker one is not shown at all. Each verdict shows what it rests on and how confident it is. If we got one wrong, press Disagree: a verdict that readers dispute and no one defends comes down.
Video ads come from the campaigns' own YouTube channels; the transcript is analyzed. Meta ads are analyzed on their text; their video and images are not, yet.