Former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele on November 4, 2025 (Image: Screengrab via MSNBC / YouTube)
When Tuesday night, November 4 arrived, Democratic and GOP strategists nervously awaited the results of a variety of elections. And many of the election results favored Democrats.
After Virginia's gubernatorial race was called for Democratic former Rep. Abigail Spanberger by CNN, the Associated Press (AP) and NBC News, those same outlets called New Jersey's gubernatorial race for Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill and New York City's mayoral race for New York State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani. Spanberger won by roughly 13 percent, according to AP.
The New Jersey race, based on polls, was expected to be close. But Sherrill, in the end, defeated GOP nominee Jack Ciatterelli by 14 percent — a much larger margin than predicted.
In deep blue Philadelphia, Democratic District Attorney Larry Krasner won a third term and defeated challenger Pat Dugan by a landslide, according to AP and CBS News. AP reported a margin of 53 percent.
Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele offered analysis of this mini-blue wave on MSNBC, arguing that the election results reflect total exhaustion with Donald Trump's second presidency.
The Never Trump conservative told his MSNBC colleagues Nicolle Wallace, Stephanie Ruhle and Jen Psaki, "Voters are exhausted. They're tired. They're tired of the whole constant drumbeat ... They're on edge. They just feel there's this constant pressure on them to pay attention to what Trump is doing and to somehow be responsive to that. And meanwhile ... moms and dads are sitting down to kitchen tables and going: The books aren't balancing. It doesn't add up. And wait a minute, you mean they cut the SNAP program?"
Steele continued, "What are we? My husband just lost his federal contract. And so, you compound the pressure of just having to be tuned into everything this man is doing 24-7 with this d—— tweets. And then, I got to sit down and balance my books too? And he's telling me it's all good? And yet, on Halloween, he's hosting this Great Gatsby gala after having torn down the White House, weaponized the DOJ against people that I know. It all comes back, and people get exhausted — and they're just tired."
Watch the segment below: