more is known about an incumbent's record in office.
Incumbents have a record of decision made in office
by T:Daddy
Mainly because the electorate are more familiar with the incumbent, his or her opinions and values
The incumbent is better known
more is known about an incumbent's record in office.
Incumbents have a record of decision made in office by T:Daddy
451607 votes.
It's axiomatic in politics that voters won't throw out a presidential incumbent unless they think his challenger will clean house. -Taken from dictionary.com
If things are going bad and voters want a change, they may vote against the incumbent.
A voter can evaluate the incumbent's history of actions, policies, decisions, successes, mistakes, and how that person fixed their errors. A voter doesn't have access to the same array of factors about a challenger. A new person may have wonderful intentions and the drive to be a great politician and work for citizens, but voters cannot evaluate the person's performance. As an example of factors that a voter might consider: A mayor of a small urban city has been in office for several years. He has not made headlines-- good or bad. However, when the voter called the Mayor about a problem in the city, the Mayor acted arrogant, rude, and dismissive. At the next election, the Mayor was challenged by an "unknown". The voter decided to call a member of City Council to ask some questions, such as: How does the Mayor work with Council? How does the council feel toward the Mayor? Is the Mayor condescending toward Members of Council or toward city employees? What is the Council's knowledge about and opinion of the new challenger? In the end, the voter decided that the arrogant-rude-dismissive incumbent Mayor could not effectively work FOR citizens if he wouldn't listen to citizens. His attitude lost him one vote. The voter chose the new "unknown" challenger, despite the lack of experience and his younger age.
The power of the incumbent can influence voters by giving them more visibility and resources to communicate their achievements, making them potentially more appealing to voters. Incumbents may also benefit from name recognition and established network of supporters, which can sway voters in their favor. However, incumbents also face the challenge of voter fatigue or desire for change, which can work against them.
That is known as a recall election.
Depending on the size of the voting district, it can be difficult to unseat an incumbent member of Congress as they are already established. It is particularly difficult if the voting population is set in its ways and unlikely to vote in someone new.
Incumbency refers to the state of being the current office holder, as opposed to a political challenger. For example, in the U.S. Presidential race of 2012, Barack Obama was the "incumbent"--the person holding the office of the President--and was running against Mitt Romney, the Republican challenger. However, incumbency can also refer to an obligation or duty. An example of this usage would be a statement such as, "it is incumbent upon you to pay the taxes you owe" or "the need to pay taxes has become an incumbency".
An anti-incumbent vote is one exercised against elected officials currently in power. It allows the voters to register their discontent with sitting government officials..