It is the person who already holds the office, and that simple fact is one of the most powerful advantages in all of politics. Incumbents win re-election at rates that would shock most people.
An incumbent is the current holder of an office, the person already in the seat when an election comes around. The word comes from the Latin incumbere, to lean on or occupy, the sense of someone who currently leans into the duties of a position.
Incumbents enjoy enormous advantages. They have name recognition, a record to point to, established donor networks, staff, media attention, and the visible perks of office. Challengers usually start far behind on every one of these.
The result is striking. In the US House of Representatives, incumbents who seek re-election typically win well over 90 percent of the time. The seat, once won, tends to stay won, which is part of why turnover in Congress is so low.
Gerrymandering compounds it. When district lines are drawn to be safe for one party, the incumbent of that party faces little real threat in the general election, making the seat nearly untouchable and the primary the only contest that matters.
