The incumbent, in politics,'s the holder of a political office. This term's 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. Etymology The word "incumbent"'s derived from the Latin verb incumbere,… (More on Incumbent)