An Explanation as to Why Incumbents Get Reelected in Political Elections

By viewing the movie, Street Fight, one can make the deduction that beating out an incumbent for a seat in office can prove to be a very difficult task.  Incumbents have many advantages over their opposing runner, such as the factor of name recognition by the public, the use of government research staff and information, greater access to the media in order to publicize themselves, and generally a larger budget to work with.

Regardless as to whether the incumbent was well liked or not, they still have the advantage of name recognition.  When a voter is uninformed, or doesn’t have an opinion as to whom they would rather hold office, the incumbent is likely to be their choice for the sole reason of name recognition.  People are more likely to vote for someone that they’ve heard of as apposed to a brand new, unknown runner.

As an incumbent, you’re in a position with great access to the media.  The incumbent gets free time on the media as part of their normal day to day duties, where as the apposing runner has to pay for their media exposure.  An incumbent has already had a full term of media exposure such as being in newspapers and on television, where as a new runner may or may not have had previous exposure to the media and in turn isn’t seen by the public eye.

Running for office takes a great deal of money.  Incumbents tend to have an easier time raising funds than their challengers.  Most citizens who donate money to the election campaigns are likely to donate to the incumbent that is running as apposed to the challenger.  Challengers oftentimes struggle to come up with enough funds in order to compete with the vastness of the incumbent’s campaign.  In order for the challenger to get the necessary media coverage that they need to compete with the incumbent, they have to dip into their own private finances and actively seek private donations.

Even though incumbents generally end up on the winning side of an election, this is not always the case. A prime example would be Cory Booker beating out the incumbent, Sharpe James, as shown in the movie Street Fight.  With the odds stacked against him, and limited resources, Cory Booker still found a way to win over the people of the city of Newark.