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Consultant's Corner
How to beat the Incumbent
By Stacy D. Cole
August 04, 2004
Incumbency has distinct advantages and disadvantages. Though someone my be the incumbent, that does not mean that they are unbeatable. A saying in football is that on any given Sunday, any team can beat any team.
Advantages to incumbency are strong name recognition, legislative record to run on, and a supposedly good fundraising base. The disadvantages are exactly the same as the disadvantages.
Strong name recognition works in the incumbent's favor if he is viewed as being a good guy, and has a good legislative record. It becomes a disadvantage if the incumbent is, for example, connected to scandals. There may not be a direct connection to the scandal (though that would be in the challenger's advantage), but if it affects the people that the incumbent has been involved with, that could work against the current officeholder.
In addition, depending on the votes that are important to your district or state, his legislative record can work against him/her. The fundraising base may have become alienated by the legislative voting record, and may not contribute to his/her campaign like before.
There are a couple of steps to beating an incumbent. FYI: there are relatively few vulnerable U.S. House & U.S. Senate offices, in any given year. Due to redistricting, most incumbents have "safe" districts, both on state and federal levels. But, some Democrat incumbents can be defeated. Here are some ways to beat those Dems:
Start early- Usually after winning an election, the new officeholder starts planning and fundraising for the next election. This is especially true of the U.S. House of Representatives. Start by researching the office you are seeking, the issues, and the incumbent. Put your finance committee together. Start to attend GOP clubs and organizations in the district in which you will be campaigning, making yourself known. You can start to build your campaign organization through these meetings.
Define your opponent- Go over your opponent's legislative voting record and his/her stances on the issues important to your district or state. Compare them to the campaign materials that the officeholder had in the previous election. Use these to define him/her before he defines himself or herself. And, defining your opponent is a tactic that will have to be employed throughout the campaign.
Get your message out- This is in conjunction with the previous point, defining the opponent. By getting your message out to the voters, you will separate yourself from your opponents, and you can show you are the better candidate.
Establish the Agenda- Establishing the agenda is important in the campaign. It is better for you to be out in front, stating your stances on the important issues of the campaign than to be responding to your opponent. You can emphasize your strengths, your opponent's weaknesses, or both. The opposing will do this to you when presented the opportunity. Make him/her speak to the issues they are weakest.
Beating an incumbent is possible, if you use the steps mentioned above. And, keep using them through Election Day.
Good luck!!
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