Lose the election, then help the winner set up chairs. People remember who you were on the worst night.

The hour after a public loss gets remembered with unusual clarity by everyone who saw it. The disappointment is real and nobody expects you to be pleased, yet the choice between disappearing and staying useful is still there and it is entirely yours. Staying does not mean the result was fair. It means the result did not get to decide your behaviour.

Do one small concrete thing, then go home and feel it properly. Send the winner a short message the next morning. There will be other elections, and the people who watched that night have already decided about you.