The Pros And Cons Of Incumbents

As we have learned in our text, incumbents are more often than not re-elected to the U.S. Congress in high rates. In Understanding American Government: California Edition the author states that “incumbency is even more of an asset to members of congress than it is to presidents.” But why might this be? I believe that the system of American government gives incumbents an almost unfair advantage when it comes to the acquisition of campaign funds as well as helpful media exposure.
As we have learned in class, two big factors that play a role in the demographic of voters are age and education. The young typically do not vote as much as members of the older age groups, thus a correlation may be noticed that the older voters have been voting for …show more content…
Thus the need for a staff arises. For a congressman, a staff is funded by the government, which allows the congressman to exude little to no out-of-pockets for their re-election campaign funding needs, unlike the committee of a challenger. A challenger would have to find a means of acquiring and paying their staff members at their own expense. Another advantage of a congressman having a staff is that much of this staff’s time is spent on casework helping individuals with problems and finding solutions for their dilemmas, which also works to the Congressman’s advantage by aiding in putting a positive word into the community of his good works.
One method used by candidates to get their name out to voters, is to send out newsletter and questionnaires with their name and other information enclosed. This type of official postage is free from incumbents due to Franking privilege. Franking privilege allows congressmen to send official mail with no postage necessary by simply signing it. This is an invaluable tool for incumbents as it allows their name to become recognized overtime in district households while a challenger has to pay for not only their fliers, postage and the staff necessary to send their …show more content…
Once a person is in power, they want to remain there so they will advocate for an incumbent who shares their ideals. This is the way of thinking that causes boards to draw up voting maps which cause the votes of extreme conservatives or extreme liberals to be drowned out, leaving only the vote of moderates remaining. This type of division is known as safe seats. Through use of this tactic, the disparity between voters can be so off kilter that it is almost inevitable that the incumbent will win. These safe seats take up approximately five out of 6 seats within congressional