Final answer:
Congressional incumbents have several advantages including the ability to assist constituents with casework, which aids in garnering votes, and access to resources such as franking privileges and established campaign organizations, making their re-election campaigns more robust compared to challengers.
Step-by-step explanation:
Advantages Congressional Incumbents Have Over Challengers
One notable advantage that incumbents have over their challengers is the ability to perform constituent casework, which allows them to directly assist constituents with various issues such as federal benefits or immigration.
This not only serves to address community needs but also doubles as a publicity tool, as incumbents can showcase their effectiveness in solving problems, thus strengthening voter support.
Another significant advantage of incumbency is the access to various resources such as franking privileges, existing campaign organizations, and greater funds.
Franking privileges enable free communication with constituents, fostering voter relationships, while pre-existing structures and financial resources give incumbents a considerable head start in campaign logistics compared to new challengers.