A former Williamson County commissioner and health care executive, Todd Kaestner, launched his bid for Williamson County mayor on Tuesday. Kaestner vowed to “protect Williamson County from those who seek to change it.”

Current Mayor Rogers Anderson announced in August that he would not seek reelection to the position he had held as the longest-serving county mayor in Williamson County history. Kaestner is the first to formally announce his plans to enter the race for the open spot.

Kaestner will be on the Republican Primary ballot, for which the election will be held in May, 2026. He has seeded his campaign with an initial personal donation of $250,000, according to a press release, and will leave his position as executive vice president at Brookdale Senior Living at the end of September to focus on his campaign full-time.

Kaestner is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and the University of Louisville. He previously spent five years as a Williamson County commissioner.

“Our neighbors to the north in Davidson County have a laundry list of problems: crime, unfettered illegal immigration, high taxes — the list goes on. We must protect Williamson County by ensuring Nashville’s problems never become our own,” he said in a statement announcing his campaign.

Kaestner continued, “With a lean county government, low taxes, smart growth and infrastructure, safe streets, and world-class public and private schools, we will protect Williamson County from external threats and those who seek to change it. We will preserve what makes it the best place in America to live, raise a family, and do business, while creating a community where prosperity for all is achieved.”  

Williamson County has a strong republican base of voters and winning the Republican primary is expected to be tantamount to winning the general election in August. Others expressed an interest in running, but Kaestner is the first to actually launch a campaign.

Steve Gill is editor and Publisher of TriStar Daily.