Well, good evening everybody. After a public service career lasting more than four decades, and 18 consecutive campaign wins, tonight, we've come up short in this primary runoff.
You know, a few years ago I had a friend of mine say, you know what makes God laugh? He said, when we make plans.
I've spent most of my time in the Senate building the Republican Party in Texas, and in the US 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.
Tonight, I'm joined up here by three women who mean everything to me, and without whom I never would have enjoyed the incredible ride and public service career that I've had for many, many years. Of course, my wife, Sandy, of 46 years, and counting, and then our daughters, Danley and Haley, of whom I'm enormously proud, and they mean everything to me.
Politics is hard on families, especially, but I believe, and I know my family believes, that public service is an honorable calling, serving others is a high purpose, and while much about politics is ugly, we choose to serve through the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Of course, we could not have run this race without an outstanding campaign team that has served me so well through so many campaigns, truly the finest I've ever worked with. To Rob, Mann and Andy, and the entire campaign team, who worked tirelessly and gave everything they had, and who believed in me, I want to express my gratitude.
Of course, I want to thank my US Senate staff, ably led in Washington, DC, by Drew, and in Texas by David. You work hard for 32 million Texans every day that I'm honored to represent, with long hours, high stress, and job uncertainty.
I want to express my gratitude to my staff for their incredible professionalism and dedication to the 32 million people of Texas that I'm honored to represent.
To everyone who's worked with me alongside of me for all these many years, I just want to say thank you.
And then to my supporters in this campaign, more than 1,000 current and former elected official endorsements, more than 30 statewide organizations. To every financial supporter, every volunteer, everyone who voted for me in this election, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Tonight, I'm reminded of something Teddy Roosevelt said in 1910. He said: It’s not the critic that counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who's actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and blood and sweat, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows the in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails, while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be among those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
A number of years ago, up in West, Texas, that's not the region, that's the city where there was a terrible catastrophe. The county commissioner up there said something that stuck with me all these years. He said, being a Texan doesn't describe where you're from, it describes who your family is. And for the past two and a half decades, I have represented this family in the United States Senate. During that time, I helped write and pass a number of historic tax reform bills, focus on building our military for tomorrow, helping put hundreds of conservative judges on the federal bench, work to take Washington's boot off the necks of Texas job creators, and helped tackle some of our nation's most challenging problems.
In this runoff election, approximately eight percent of registered voters made their voices heard, and of that eight percent who voted, roughly 60 percent said they were ready for a different direction. Another reminder that those who show up decide for those who do not.
There's a simple rule in elections, you've heard me say it before, and that is the candidate who gets the most votes wins. The party in the majority gets to govern, and my hope is to keep my party in power for generations.
I am an optimist by nature, which is just another way of saying I am a Texas. Yesterday, when I was in San Antonio, where I stood alongside of 109 students who had been admitted to service academies for this upcoming year. This was the 20th time that we've had this academy send off, and it remains my favorite event of the year, because these young men and women, the leaders of our military and our communities and our nation tomorrow, give me great hope and optimism for our future.
Well, a scripture verse comes to mind as well. Where the apostle, Paul, said, "I fought the good fight, I finished the race, and I've kept the faith.
Over the next seven months of my service in the United States Senate, I intend to continue my work to help make this nation a better place for all Texans and all Americans. Thank you very much. And may God bless Texas, and may He continue to bless the United States of America.
Editor's Note: The above remarks were made May 26, 2026, by U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in Austin, Texas, following his defeat in the Republican Party Primary Runoff Election.
