Incumbent

The incumbent, in politics, is the current holder of a political office. For example, in the 2004 Russian presidential election, Vladimir Putin as the current president is the incumbent.

In many jurisdictions and situations, incumbents have structural advantages over challengers during elections. The timing of elections may be determined by the incumbent instead of on a set schedule. For less signficant political offices (e.g. school trustee or other municipal positions) the incumbent is often the only candidate with name recognition. Incumbents also have easier access to campaign finance. Incumbents also have access to government resources that can often be indirectly used to boost a campaign.

Congressional incumbents almost always win, barring long-term shifts in their district (a Democratic incumbent in historically conservative Texas would have a less likely chance of winning than a Democratic incumbent in liberal New York City, because Texas has shifted away from the Democratic party in terms of voting).

Incumbency is an especially powerful force within parties. In the United States incumbents traditionally win their party's nomination to run for office and unseating a siting president, senator or other figure during a primary is very difficult. In countries such as Canada where nomination systems are used it is also difficult to remove an incumbent within the party.

In the British Westminster system, an Incumbent Member of Parliament is the person who currently represents the constituency in Parliament.

See also: Lists of incumbents