AUSTIN, TEXAS — Just one hour after polls closed on Tuesday for the Texas Republican Senate primary runoff, Sen. John Cornyn spoke to reporters in a small closed-off conference room of a JW Marriott in downtown Austin where there were no supporters, no music and no fanfare.

It was a painful end for the four-term senator, but in the end, not an unexpected one. Cornyn, the former GOP majority whip, and for the better part of a quarter-century, the most recognizable face of Texas Republicans, lost his party’s nomination to state Attorney General Ken Paxton — a man indicted, impeached, never far from controversy and notably one of President Donald Trump’s biggest allies.

The defeat makes Cornyn the second sitting Republican senator ousted by a lack of sufficient Trump support in as many weeks.Tuesday marked the end of a lifelong political career, which he wasn’t ready to end just yet.

He had watched the returns privately with his family before appearing to the gathered press, eager to hear whether he planned to endorse Paxton for the general election.

“I’ve spent most of my time in the Senate building the Republican Party in Texas and in the U.S. Senate, and I’ve always supported the Republican ticket, and I intend to do so again in this general election. I’ve said throughout this race that I trust the voters of Texas, and they’ve made their decision and I must respect it,” Cornyn, joined by his adult daughters and his wife, said.

Notably, though, he never said Paxton’s name. Even after President Donald Trump endorsed Paxton last week, Cornyn had been aggressively attacking his opponent while pledging he still supported the president — making any potential support awkward at best and disingenuous at worst.

“He’s gotten away with so much for so long and not been held accountable for it, but I think he is an embarrassment, his misbehavior. And he’s completely unrepentant,” Cornyn told CNN earlier Tuesday.

To understand how a senator with a 99% Trump voting record, the endorsement of Senate Majority Leader Sen. John Thune as well as that of National Republican Senatorial Committee Tim Scott and a strong financial advantage lost his own primary, it’s important to look back at what the last few years have been like for the longtime Texas Republican.

First came his lackluster support of Trump in his first term. Then came the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act — the modest gun-safety package Cornyn negotiated in the wake of the horrific Uvalde school shooting. Lastly, when Trump ran for president again, Cornyn’s endorsement was widely viewed as half-hearted and too late.

Cornyn has since spent the better part of the last two years trying to rehabilitate his standing with the president, but it wasn’t enough for Trump.

“There’s a simple rule … and that is the candidate who gets the most votes wins,” Cornyn told reporters. “The party in the majority gets to govern, and my hope is to keep my party in power for generations.”

In Plano, Texas, right outside Dallas, Paxon addressed his supporters, taking a victory lap and giving credit to Trump for putting him over the top.

“Tonight we just made history,” Paxton said at his election event that looked similar to a Trump rally. “President Trump is the leader of our party and his endorsement is the most powerful force in politics.”

It didn’t matter to Trump that Paxton was long viewed by many in the Republican establishment as a far-right candidate whose impeachment trial, securities fraud charges and FBI investigations could jeopardize a seat Republicans cannot afford to lose. What did matter is that he was one of Trump’s first supporters, helping him in the effort to overturn the 2020 election results and boosting Trump’s presidential campaign out of the gate.

Paxton may have been rewarded for his loyalty with an endorsement, but it will come at a cost: He will face state Rep. James Talarico in a general election in November, a candidate who Democrats hope will give them a shot at winning the seat for the first time in decades and will make it one of the most expensive races in the country.

The Senate Republican campaign arm fought publicly against Paxton as the nominee, often turning to his personal controversies in advertising and public statements. It also poured tens of millions of dollars into defending Cornyn. But NRSC officials don’t want to lose this seat either, and put out a tepid statement on Tuesday that didn’t mention Paxton either, only that “a state President Trump won by nearly 14 points isn’t going to elect James Talarico.”

For Cornyn, the loss closes a career that spans the Texas Supreme Court, the attorney general’s office, and four terms in the Senate, including six years as majority whip. He will return to the Senate next week for his last few months in public office, which Paxton noted in his victory speech.

“I want to take a minute to say something about Sen. Cornyn. I want to thank Sen. Cornyn for his service to this state. John has dedicated much of his life to serving Texas. He has worked diligently for years to help Texas,” Paxton said. “I’m very grateful. Thank you, John.”

“So no matter who you supported in this race,” Paxton said, “I want to thank every single Texan, and I want to let them know I want to earn your support.”

Cornyn has become the third incumbent in the last 10 days to lose his primary to a Trump-endorsed incumbent. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana didn’t advance in a runoff in Louisiana, with Trump-endorsed Rep. Julia Letlow winning, and Rep. Thomas Massie lost in his primary against Trump-endorsed Ed Gallrein.

Republicans in the Senate have been fuming over Trump’s endorsements and now feel more emboldened to stand up to the president. Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who has been outspokenly critical of Trump, told NOTUS last week he hopes more in his party will join him in speaking up.

“I hope that they will be motivated, like I am, to stop [us] running into the ditch and making it more difficult for Republicans to get reelected or elected in November,” he said.

Now it’s an open question if Cornyn will be one of them.

Cornyn, who is known for answering reporters’ questions extensively in Washington, D.C., exited the Austin conference room without answering a single question.

“I’ll have more to say later,” he said.