1978Final results
1978 election for Tennessee House District 96
Tennessee House of Representatives · Tennessee
Joe Kent (R) won with 59.1% of the vote, defeating Joseph T. Kirkland (D) by 21.0 points.
Joe KentRepublican · winner
59.1%7,014
Joseph T. KirklandDemocrat
38.1%4,524
Betty KnightIndependent
2.8%337
11,876 votes
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1978
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET