Incumbent
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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 (such as the franking privilege) that can often be indirectly used to boost a campaign. An election (especially for a legislature) in which no incumbent is running is often called an open seat; because of the lack of incumbency advantage, these are often amongst the most hotly-contested races in any election.
Incumbency is an especially powerful force within political parties. In the United States, incumbents traditionally win their party's nomination to run for office. Unseating an incumbent president, senator or other figure during a primary is very difficult. In particular, barring major scandal or controversy, about 90% of congressional incumbents win re-election to their seats. However, shifts in congressional districts due to reapportionment or other longer-term factors may make it more or less likely for an incumbent to win re-election over time. For example, 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.
In countries such as Canada, where nomination systems are also 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.
