--- title: Marco Rubio's Iowa Success Turns Focus to New Hampshire description: Marco Rubio turned his attention to New Hampshire and the rest of the country on Tuesday, following a third-place finish in the Iowa caucus canonical: https://time.com/4203974/iowa-caucus-marco-rubio-new-hampshire/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-02T13:39:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:00:29.438Z article:section: Politics og:title: Marco Rubio Turns Attention to New Hampshire After Strong Iowa Finish og:description: The Senator said the momentum will help him in next week's primary og:url: https://time.com/4203974/iowa-caucus-marco-rubio-new-hampshire/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt212d8b5ed9d751be/69887bc35f570f847cb1f741/timepol-iowa-keyssar-2016-27.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIMEPOL-IOWA-KEYSSAR-2016-27 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Marco Rubio Turns Attention to New Hampshire After Strong Iowa Finish twitter:description: The Senator said the momentum will help him in next week's primary twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt212d8b5ed9d751be/69887bc35f570f847cb1f741/timepol-iowa-keyssar-2016-27.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Marco Rubio Turns Attention to New Hampshire After Strong Iowa Finish  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Feb 2, 2016 1:39 PM UTC  Florida Senator and presidential candidate Marco Rubio walks from his campaign bus towards a rally in Des Moines, Iowa on Jan. 27. Florida Senator and presidential candidate Marco Rubio walks from his campaign bus towards a rally in Des Moines, Iowa on Jan. 27.Natalie Keyssar for TIME  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Feb 2, 2016 1:39 PM UTC Sen. Marco Rubio turned his attention to New Hampshire and the rest of the country on Tuesday, following a [third-place finish in the Iowa caucus](http://time.com/4203726/iowa-caucus-results-marco-rubio-donald-trump-ted-cruz/) that positioned him firmly in the race for the Republican nomination. “We feel great about the momentum that gives us coming in here to New Hampshire a week from today,” Rubio said on Fox News on Tuesday, speaking from a diner in New Hampshire. Experts have described Rubio’s Iowa performance as a victory that turns the wide Republican field into a [three-person race](http://time.com/4203726/iowa-caucus-results-marco-rubio-donald-trump-ted-cruz/) and shows the Florida Senator is the favored establishment candidate compared to [Donald Trump](http://time.com/4203728/donald-trump-iowa-loser/) and [Ted Cruz](http://time.com/4203690/iowa-caucuses-ted-cruz/). But when asked whether he saw himself as the moderate conservative in the race, Rubio demurred on Tuesday. “I always reject all these sorts of labels, other than to tell you that I’m as conservative as anyone running for president, but I believe I can grow the conservative movement—and that’s what’s important about our candidacy too. I can take the conservative movement to people who are living today the way that I grew up,” he said.  Iowa Caucus results 2016 Rubio also received the [coveted endorsement of South Carolina Senator Tim Scott](http://time.com/4203605/iowa-caucus-marco-rubio-tim-scott-south-carolina/), a key Republican whose support Rubio expects will help him as he focuses his campaign in battleground states across the country. “He embodies the American dream. He embodies so much of what our party needs to be about and that is people who come from challenging backgrounds and circumstances.He doesn’t come from a privileged background and neither do I, and we are both conservatives,” Rubio said. “Obviously, I’m a huge admirer of his, and I think his impact is going to be not just in South Carolina, but across the country.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4203974/iowa-caucus-marco-rubio-new-hampshire/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4203974/iowa-caucus-marco-rubio-new-hampshire/"},"headline":"Marco Rubio Turns Attention to New Hampshire After Strong Iowa Finish","datePublished":"2016-02-02T13:39:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:00:29.438Z","description":"The Senator said the momentum will help him in next week's primary","url":"https://time.com/4203974/iowa-caucus-marco-rubio-new-hampshire/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt212d8b5ed9d751be/69887bc35f570f847cb1f741/timepol-iowa-keyssar-2016-27.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt212d8b5ed9d751be/69887bc35f570f847cb1f741/timepol-iowa-keyssar-2016-27.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TIMEPOL-IOWA-KEYSSAR-2016-27","caption":"Rubio walks off his bus towards the pub. Marco Rubio spoke to supporters at a campaign rally at the Wellman's Pub and Rooftop in Des Moines Iowa on Wednesday evening, January 27th 2016. 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