--- title: New Hampshire Primary: Lamar Alexander Has Some Advice description: Sen. Lamar Alexander isn’t ready to endorse a candidate in the 2016 election, but he does have some revealing thoughts on the state of the race. canonical: https://time.com/4208680/lamar-alexander-president-endorsement/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-04T23:32:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:46:35.584Z article:section: Politics og:title: Lamar Alexander Has Some Advice for 2016 Republicans og:description: The two-time presidential candidate thinks things have changed. og:url: https://time.com/4208680/lamar-alexander-president-endorsement/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte289f813c1d9d2fe/69887c330a4a22605f9c83c4/51975151.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Republican presidential candidate Lamar Alexander og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Lamar Alexander Has Some Advice for 2016 Republicans twitter:description: The two-time presidential candidate thinks things have changed. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte289f813c1d9d2fe/69887c330a4a22605f9c83c4/51975151.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Lamar Alexander Has Some Advice for 2016 Republicans > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Feb 4, 2016 11:32 PM UTC  DES MOINES, IA - FEBRUARY 12: Republican presidential candidate Lamar Alexander waves to supporters as he leaves a local sandwich shop after a campaign stop 12 February in Des Moines, Iowa. Iowa caucus voting will take place later in the evening. JOHN RUTHROFF—AFP/Getty Images DES MOINES, IA - FEBRUARY 12: Republican presidential candidate Lamar Alexander waves to supporters as he leaves a local sandwich shop after a campaign stop 12 February in Des Moines, Iowa. Iowa caucus voting will take place later in the evening. JOHN RUTHROFF—AFP/Getty Images JOHN RUTHROFF—AFP/Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Feb 4, 2016 11:32 PM UTC Sen. Lamar Alexander isn’t ready to endorse a candidate in the 2016 election, but he does have some revealing thoughts on the state of the race. He should know: the Tennessee Republican ran twice himself. The former Governor and U.S. Secretary of Education withdrew from the [1996 race for the presidency](https://time.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=4208680&action=edit) after finishing third in both the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary. Alexander attempted another unsuccessful [run in 1999](http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/03/09/president.2000/alexander/). In a conversation with TIME, Alexander did not mention his colleagues who are running, Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio—who came in first and third, respectively, in the Iowa caucuses—saying his constituents in Tennessee probably wouldn’t want him sticking his nose in the race this early. But he did predict there would likely be “three or four” candidates left to duke it out following next week’s New Hampshire primary. “I don’t know how New Hampshire will come out, but I expect that the old rule of three out of Iowa and two out of New Hampshire will be broken,” Alexander said, **“**It’ll be 3 out of Iowa and maybe 3 or 4 out of New Hampshire.” Alexander is referencing a phrase popular among political pundits that dates back to the early days of the Iowa caucuses, according to Professor [Rachel Caufield](http://www.drake.edu/polsci/facultystaff/rachelcaufield/) at Iowa’s Drake University_._ Though not every Republican presidential nominee has won Iowa, one of the [top-three choices in the Hawkeye state has gone on to win the nomination](http://themonkeycage.org/Squire.Iowa.Caucus.pdf), even among the exceptions. That would seem to limit the race to Cruz, Rubio or Republican business mogul Donald Trump. So Alexander’s comments leave open the possibility that he’s rooting for another candidate, perhaps another governor, such as New Jersey’s Chris Christie or Ohio’s John Kasich, or maybe former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, whose “Jeb!” slogan recalls his own “Lamar!” posters. The chairman of the Senate committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions said this Saturday’s upcoming debate will be an interesting addition to the contest. (“We didn’t have that 20 years ago,” he said). Overall, he believes that, for now, having more candidates with their hats in the ring is a good thing. “I think that’s good for the country and can give us more alternatives, “Alexander said. “And I think most American would like to see more alternatives. “ Having been there, he’s also got a bit of advice for the candidates as they head into next week’s primary. “What I learned is that a good third place finish in Iowa will give you a bump in New Hampshire,” Alexander said. “Just how big a bump we’ll know by next week.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4208680/lamar-alexander-president-endorsement/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4208680/lamar-alexander-president-endorsement/"},"headline":"Lamar Alexander Has Some Advice for 2016 Republicans","datePublished":"2016-02-04T23:32:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:46:35.584Z","description":"The two-time presidential candidate thinks New Hampshire has changed","url":"https://time.com/4208680/lamar-alexander-president-endorsement/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election","Senate","Congress","advice"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte289f813c1d9d2fe/69887c330a4a22605f9c83c4/51975151.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte289f813c1d9d2fe/69887c330a4a22605f9c83c4/51975151.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Republican presidential candidate Lamar Alexander","caption":"Republican presidential candidate Lamar Alexander","creditText":"JOHN RUTHROFF—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4208680/lamar-alexander-president-endorsement/","name":"Lamar Alexander Has Some Advice for 2016 Republicans"}}]}] ```