The Hill News

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), who just announced his candidacy to succeed Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) as chairman of the Senate Republican Conference chairman, won't rule out running for Republican whip.

"I haven't made any decisions long term," Thune said on ABC's "Topline" Wednesday. "I don't think you rule anything out."

A day earlier, Alexander announced that he would step down from his position as chairman in January. Shortly after Thune, who had previously been making a bid for retiring Sen. Jon Kyl's (R-Ariz.) position as Senate minority whip, announced his candidacy to succeed Alexander.

It appeared that Thune's bid for Alexander's spot meant he was dropping his bid for minority whip, leaving National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (R-Texas) the likely successor to Kyl, but Thune's office would not comment on whether his bid for the No. 3 spot among Republicans in the Senate meant he was no longer in the runn! ing for the No. 2 spot.

Given that the elections for Republican Conference chairman will happen before January when Alexander steps down, and the elections for whip will be later on in 2012, it's possible that Thune could run for both spots at different times.

Thune said the news of Alexander's decision came as a surprise.

"Nobody saw this with Lamar coming," Thune added.