In 1966 Kuykendall won the Republican nomination for the Memphis-based Ninth Congressional Disrict and won, becoming Tennessee's first Republican congressman since Reconstruction to come from outside of East Tennessee.
In 1966 Kuykendall won the Republican nomination for the Memphis-based Ninth Congressional District. He narrowly defeated one-term Democrat George Grider in November, becoming Tennessee's first Republican congressman since Reconstruction to come from outside of East Tennessee.