incumbent
Present office holder
Though incumbent can be an adjective or noun, its meaning doesn’t change.
An incumbent is someone who currently occupies a political or religious office: I nearly always vote for the incumbent.
When a noun follows incumbent, it simply specifies the person intended: The incumbent bishop is caught up in a corruption scandal.
A more formal use of incumbent relates to duty and obligation: It’s incumbent on all of us to stop the spread of this malicious rumor.
Fixed period or word
- administrationOrganizational oversight and control
- stintFixed work period
- serviceAid or maintenance
- reignSovereign's time in power
period · duration · office · appointment · mandate · occupancy · regime · session
Organized effort toward goal
- candidacyPursuit of office
- challengerOne competing against incumbent
- opponentOne who contends against
- primaryChief in importance
nomination · endorsement · polling · turnout · platform · debate · fundraising · attack ads
Required moral task
- responsibilityState of being answerable
- requirementMandatory condition to fulfill
- mandateFormal authoritative directive
- chargeCost or accusation
accountability · imperative · expectation · necessity · binding · compulsion · requisite · onus
Firmly established, resistant to change
- establishedFormally set up
- favoredShown special preference
- dominantHaving superior influence
- influentialHaving considerable effect
experienced · seasoned · name recognition · war chest · franking · visibility · connections · fundraising
Upper chamber member
- governorState's chief executive
- mayorElected head of municipality
- representativeOne who acts for another
- legislatorElected maker of laws
congressman · councilman · parliamentarian · lawmaker · alderman · sheriff · minister · chancellor
term
Fixed period or word
- administrationOrganizational oversight and control
- stintFixed work period
- serviceAid or maintenance
reign · period · duration · office · appointment · mandate · occupancy · regime · session · sitting
campaign
Organized effort toward goal
- candidacyPursuit of office
- challengerOne competing against incumbent
- opponentOne who contends against
primary · nomination · endorsement · polling · turnout · platform · debate · fundraising · attack ads · voting record
duty
Required moral task
- responsibilityState of being answerable
- requirementMandatory condition to fulfill
- mandateFormal authoritative directive
charge · accountability · imperative · expectation · necessity · binding · compulsion · requisite · onus
entrenched
Firmly established, resistant to change
- establishedFormally set up
- favoredShown special preference
- dominantHaving superior influence
influential · experienced · seasoned · name recognition · war chest · franking · visibility · connections · fundraising · institutional
senator
Upper chamber member
- governorState's chief executive
- mayorElected head of municipality
- representativeOne who acts for another
legislator · congressman · councilman · parliamentarian · lawmaker · alderman · sheriff · minister · chancellor · premier
- legislatorslegislator, lawmaker, member of parliament, state senator, assemblyman
- democracyvote, voting, election, elections, ballot
- electionsballot, ballots, voter registration, candidates, polls
- politicalconservative, liberal, moderate, centrist, leftist
- politicsdemocracy, campaigning, campaigns, democrats, bill
- U.S. PoliticsCongress, senator, representative, president, vice president
incumbentchallenger
One competing against incumbent
nonincumbent · opponent · contender · predecessor · candidate
incumbentoptional
Not mandatory
voluntary · discretionary · elective · unnecessary · nonobligatory
- incumbent presidentCurrent holder of presidency
- incumbent advantageEdge from already holding office