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Look up incumbent in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent(s). For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W. Bush was the incumbent, because he was the president in the current term while the election sought to determine the president for the following term. A race without an incumbent is referred to as an open seat.

Etymology[link]

The word "incumbent" is derived from the Latin verb incumbere, literally meaning "to lean or lay upon" with the present participle stem incumbent-, "leaning a variant of encumber,^[1] while encumber is derived from the root cumber,^[2] most appropriately defined: "4. To occupy obstructively or inconveniently; to block fill up with what hinders freedom of motion or action; to burden, load."^[3]

Politics[link]

In general, incumbents have structural advantages over challengers during elections. The timing of elections may be determined by the incumbent instead of a set schedule. For most political offices, the incumbent often has more name recognition due to their previous work in the office. Incumbents also have easier access to campaign finance, as well as government resources (such as the franking privilege) that can 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.

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 election is very difficult, and even in the general election, incumbents have a very strong record. For instance, the percentage of incumbents who win reelection after seeking it in the U.S. House of Representatives has been over 80% for over 50 years, and is often over 90%.^[4] However, this rate may be artificially inflated, as incumbents that feel unlikely to win may decline to run for reelection. Additionally, 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 rural Texas would have less chance of winning than a Democratic incumbent in historically liberal New York City, because Texas has shifted away from the Democratic Party in terms of voting while New York City has shifted toward the same party (see also Congressional stagnation in the United States).

However, there exist scenarios in which the incumbency factor itself leads to the downfall of the incumbent. Popularly known as the anti-incumbency factor, situations of this kind occur when the incumbent has proven himself not worthy of office during his tenure and the challenger demonstrates this fact to the voters. An anti-incumbency factor can also be responsible for bringing down incumbents who have been in office for many successive terms in spite of performance indicators, simply because the voters are convinced by the challenger of a need for change. Nick Panagakis, a pollster, coined what he dubbed the "incumbent rule" in 1989--that any voter who claims to be undecided towards the end of the election will probably end up voting for the challenger^[5].

When newcomers vie to fill an open office, voters tend to compare and contrast the candidates' qualifications, issues positions and personal characteristics in a relatively straightforward way. Elections featuring an incumbent, on the other hand, are as Guy Molyneux puts it, "fundamentally a referendum on the incumbent."^[6] Voters will first grapple with the record of the incumbent. Only if they decide to "fire" the incumbent do they begin to evaluate whether the challenger is an acceptable alternative. At the same time, if the challenger is determined to be wholly unacceptable, voters might reluctantly vote for the incumbent.

Business[link]

In business the term "incumbent" is used for the largest company in a certain industry, for instance the traditional phone company in telecommunications, typically called the "incumbent operator". In a sales process, such as public tender, incumbent may also refer to the vendor that has the largest existing commercial relationship with the issuer of the tender.

In large corporations it is the incumbent who is the holder of an office, or one that occupies a particular position.

See also[link]

• Lists of office-holders
• List of current heads of state and government
• Outgoing president

Notes[link]

References[link]

Politics portal

• Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989. Print.

John Fund
Fund at CPAC in February 2010
Born	(1957-04-08) April 8, 1957 (age 55) Tucson, Arizona, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Commentator, columnist, author

John H. Fund (born April 8, 1957) is an American political journalist and conservative columnist. Currently a senior editor of The American Spectator,^[1] he was previously a columnist for The Wall Street Journal, where he wrote a weekly column named "On the Trail" and contributed to the Journal's newsletter, Political Diary.

Life and career[link]

Fund was born in Tucson, Arizona. He later attended California State University where he studied journalism and economics.^[2] He joined The Wall Street Journal as a deputy editorial features editor in 1984 and was a member of the editorial board from 1995 through 2001. The articles he has written have appeared in Esquire, Reader's Digest, Reason, The New Republic, and National Review.

Fund cowrote a 1992 book, Cleaning House: America's Campaign for Term Limits (ISBN 0-89526-516-8) with James Coyne. He also collaborated with Rush Limbaugh on another 1992 book, The Way Things Ought to Be (ISBN 067175145X),^[3][4] transcribing it from tape and editing it.

In 2004, Fund wrote Stealing Elections: How Voter Fraud Threatens Our Democracy (ISBN 1-59403-061-8), in which he strongly criticizes the American election system, describing it as "befitting an emerging Third World country rather than the world's leading democracy".

Bibliography[link]

• Stealing Elections: How Voter Fraud Threatens Our Democracy (Encounter Books, 2004, ISBN 1-59403-061-8)
• Cleaning House: America's Campaign for Term Limits (Regnery Gateway, 1992, ISBN 0-89526-516-8)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official biography at OpinionJournal.com.
• Archive of Fund's columns at OpinionJournal.com.
• "Leave it to Deaver" Fund writes about meeting Michael Deaver and Ronald Reagan while in high school.

Esmael “Toto" Mangudadatu or (Ismael "Toto" Mangudadatu) (b. August 15, 1968) is the Governor of Maguindanao, in the Philippines. Mangudadatu was elected for governor of Maguindanao after defeating his closest rival, Ombra Sinsuat by a margin of 12,705 votes. The race came to international attention after the 2009 Maguindanao massacre during which his wife, sisters, aides, and lawyers, plus several journalists were kidnapped and murdered. Andal Ampatuan, Jr., against whom Mangudadatu was running for Governor, was charged with the murders.^[2] He denies that he was involved.

Early life[link]

Esmael Mangudadatu was born on August 15, 1968 to father Pua Mangudadatu who was a famous politician that was president of the “Magnificent 7,” a group of influential politicians in the province at the time. Esmael Mangudadatu's uncle is Pax Mangudadatu incumbent representative of the 1st district of Sultan Kudarat in Tacurong City.^[3]

Seeking to escape his political dynasty, Mangudadatu went to University in order to be a doctor. It was there that Mangudadatu met his wife Genalyn, from the Ilongga clan, while they were both students in Davao City, Mindanao. They married on November 11, 1991.^[3] Starting a family after getting married cut his medical studies short but even after having many children he earned his Political Science degree from the University of Mindanao in Davao City.^[3]

Politics[link]

Seeking to support his ever increasing family Mangudadatu visited the then governor of Maguindanao province, Zacaria Candao. His intention was to get approval for a new business venture but instead Candao, who was his godfather, talked him into running for office. He was elected and became a provincial board member. He went on to become Mayor of Buluan and after he reached his term limit became Vice Mayor. In 2009 he decided to challenge the Ampatuan clan's heir apparent in the election for governor of Maguindanao province.^[3]

Maguindanao massacre[link]

The Maguindanao massacre occurred on the morning of November 23, 2009, in the town of Ampatuan in Maguindanao province, on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. The victims were about to file a certificate of candidacy for Esmael Mangudadatu. Mangudadatu was challenging Datu Unsay mayor Andal Ampatuan, Jr., son of the incumbent Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan, Sr., in the forthcoming Maguindanao gubernatorial election,^[4] part of the national elections in 2010. The 57 people killed included Mangudadatu's wife, his two sisters, journalists, lawyers, aides, and motorists who were witnesses or were mistakenly identified as part of the convoy.^[5][6] Mangudadatu told reporters that his wife was able to call her husband just before she was killed, "She said... they had been stopped by 100 uniformed armed men... then her line got cut off,"^[1]

The man thought responsible Andal Ampatuan, Jr. denies that he was responsible and instead blames the MILF an armed Islamic group that operates in the Southern Philippines. MILF released a statement denying that it was responsible.^[7]

2010 Elections[link]

Four days after the massacre, Mangudadatu traveled along the same road where the attack had occurred to successfully file his candidacy in the election.^[8] He ran under the banner of the Lakas Kampi CMD party. In the Lakas Kampi CMD party, Mangudadatu replaced his rivals from the Ampatuan clan who supposedly were the perpetators of the Maguindanao massacre.^[8]

Gaisano Mall shootings[link]

On February 11, 2010 Tamano Kamendan approached Mangudadatu and his entourage at the Gaisano South Citimall in Davao City. An altercation took place and Kamendan was killed by Esmael Mangudadatu's bodyguard. Mangudadatu released a statement that Kamendan was an associate of the Ampatuan clan and that he was trying to kidnap his children. Kamendan's wife denies the Ampatuan connection and has stated in an affidavit that her husband was just shopping when Mangudadatu ordered his men to shoot him.^[9] On February 14, 2010 Mangudadatu and his bodyguard were charged with murder.^[10]

Tacurong City car bombing[link]

Mangudadatu's convoy on August 15, 2011 was hit by a car bomb that exploded along a highway in Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat.^[11] Two people were killed, including a Maguindanao board member, while six others were wounded. The bomb exploded while Mangudadatu's convoy was cruising along the highway in Tacurong. The governor and his followers were heading to a restaurant to celebrate his birthday.

The bomb, placed inside an old and white Kia vehicle that was parked at the side of the road fronting the Cherubim Methodist Learning Center in Alunan Highway, exploded when a Toyota Fortuner, where the provincial board member was on board, passed near it. Mangudadatu was unhurt in the bombing because his vehicle was bullet-proof.

References[link]