CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) - Donald Trump will make history as the 47th president of the United States as he is expected to return to the White House in January. Political consultant Tony Cignoli joined 22News Wednesday night for a post-election recap interview. Question 1: Trump’s victory is truly an extraordinary comeback for a former president who famously refused to accept defeat four years ago. What did he do this time to seal the win? Cignoli: "I think it's not so much what he did, but his well-run, very scientific campaign. His campaign and the political action committees that were out there that were supporting his campaign but not legally working directly with it. We take a look at the amount of money spent in that regard, it's extraordinary. But there are some really sharp players involved. Some were heavily criticized. Elon Musk, who not only started with so much money but literally took over three state's organizations and replaced them with his own people." Question 2: Republicans have taken the Senate majority and are fighting to keep control of the House. Where are we still waiting for the results? Cignoli: "It's a couple of states that are still holding out there right now. It's just that slow, tight wait to see what the shake is. But it's a surprise, that in upstate New York, a couple of spots in Ohio, Nevada certainly, some races that were for sure to be democrats returning, haven't happened. Several Democrats lost seats that were thought to be safe. What we are seeing here is such a huge turnaround. From blue areas that have been generationally blue, to red." Question 3: Congressman Richard Neal was elected to a 19th term. What does his role look like under this new Trump administration? Cignoli: "It is important, whether he be the chairman of Ways and Means, should the Democrats take the House or whether he be the ranking member on Ways and Means. Neal is recognized as one of the sharpest players on taxes. Even Republicans respect him in that regard. U.S. senators have said that even members of the House-- there's a willingness to work with him. But certainly, with the Trump tax breaks and other things coming up for renewal, or their lifespans ending within this next presidential administration, it's going to be something that is going to be important that Richard Neal will be at the forefront of." Question 4: Here in Massachusetts, voters approved a measure giving the state auditor authority to audit legislative practices. What does this say about the transparency of state government? Cignoli: "It will say a lot if she's actually able to do this because if she gets her way, as the public has overwhelmingly voted for her to have the right to audit the legislature. There's still something else here, the Legislature can decide the will of the people, and that's great. The Legislature can do that. I don't think they'll do that this time around because there will be a fear of a 70% margin of folks in the commonwealth that want to know what's going on. So that would be a dangerous thing to do for reelection and for individual members of the House and Senate." Question 5: President Trump secured the electoral votes he needed with a win in Wisconsin, and it seems we saw a red wave across much of the country. Who turned out at the polls yesterday, and how did that affect the outcome? Cignoli: "You have a lot of new voters. You have some places, even New Hampshire where we had a monstrous number of brand-new registered voters. They showed up that day to vote and we saw the same thing and Wisconsin and other states. Certainly, there was a block that was there for Kamala Harris, but there was a much larger block for Donald Trump. It's astonishing because the exit polling is showing us those people. Many of them are independent, and the new registrations overwhelmingly went to Trump. We look right now at the Black Vote across America and the Hispanic-Latino vote, and it is stunning what Donald Trump did. He wants from below 10 points in some communities to literally 30,40, and 50%. Overall, a stunning amount of people came out for him." Question 6: It’s been a tough day for Democrats, with discussions about the reasons for Vice President Harris’ loss. What do you think was her biggest challenge in this race? Cignoli: "I think the biggest challenge was the message, and that message was that she could not separate herself from Joe Biden. You can make the case that Joe Biden did a lot of great things as president. But the bottom line is that when you've got double-digit inflation, credit card costs that are insane, the cost to borrow, inflation, etc. It's tough when your main argument as Kamala Harris is abortion." Question 7: We saw shifts in some of those key swing states. Areas that leaned blue in the last two elections have turned red. What do you think drove this change? Cignoli: "As far as the vote turnout in those places, it's astonishing, it is a generational change in some of those states. It was a rejection of Democratic policies, for the most part. It really was more so than just picking between the two candidates. It was a policy decision. Folks don't like where things are at or how things are in their life in America right now. And that's all they voted." Question 8: Looking ahead, what can we expect to see from President-elect Trump in his first 100 days in office? Cignoli: "It will move quickly to do some of the things he talked about. He knows that he's got to deliver for his base, for his movement, to continue on. He is a one-more-term president. This is it, he can't run again. The chains are off so to speak if they weren't already off to begin with, with this anomaly of a politician or public servant. What you'll see quickly is that he will move on immigration as he said that he would. You'll see him start to make some tax moves. You'll also see him start to pick up the phone and play diplomat or have his folks play diplomat. He does not want to spend American dollars in Ukraine. He wants to spend as little as possible in the Middle East. He is incredibly emboldened right now, and the group that's around him, that's coming to the White House, even more so." Question 9: In his early morning victory speech, Trump addressed the nation. What message did he convey to the American people? Cignoli: "Basically, it's "I'm back, it's improbable, Thank you and you haven't seen anything yet." It was classic Donald Trump. It was not perhaps what anyone else would have done. They were getting a lot of good tracking, it was possible this was going to happen, a run of the board, one way or the other way, that could've still happened as well. But the bottom line is it was Donald Trump." Question 10: The country has been deeply divided in recent years. Do you think Trump will be able to bring about some level of unity? Cignoli: "I don't think it's a big unification. I don't think it's the Harris people coming on over and applauding. I think the policy changes that he's intent on making, that he's promised to make, that he has a mandate now to make. That's not going to play well with everyone. It's going to play well with his base and it's going to play well with a lot of these new folks who were just newly registered to vote and come on in and voted for him. So I don't think that the first thing that's on his mind is unification. That's his agenda, getting things done for his team." Question 11: What’s next for the Democratic Party? How do they regroup and move forward after this loss? Cignoli: "You'll see a lot of change. A lot of soul searching. The Democrats have been here before in 2016. This is just so soon to have to go through this yet again. There will be a lot of changes with the Democratic National Committee and other decision-makers and players. If they're smart, they'll take a look Not at Donald Trump himself, but at the incredible campaign that his team put on and all those political action committees that are out there. That's why they were effective and they used a lot of new edge technology." Question 12: This election was historic on so many levels. In years to come, how do you think Americans will look back on this day? Cignoli: "They're going to be writing about this campaign for the next 30 years. I don't know what history says about the next four years. This is a great transitional change for the United States because it's not just the demographics that were expected to support Donald Trump. But if you take a look at Black America, if you take a look at Hispanic America, it is shell shocking to Democrats the kind of support that Donald Trump was able to own and bring home to his side of the equation. I think that will be one of the big things. This is a generational shift." Local News Headlines Donovan’s Irish Pub wins Holyoke ‘Battle of the Bars’ Springfield lodge honors 2024 Elk Veteran of the Year Local officials react to Trump’s victory, provide insight for future Multi-unit bust in Springfield yields firearms, heroin, and crack cocaine WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.