BUTLER TWP — Not often do you hear people tell their political candidate of choice to spend more time in other districts, but a few farmers in Butler Township Tuesday pointed Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Wagner straight out of their county.

Go to Allegheny County, they said. Win in Philadelphia, and maybe you’ll win it all, a small crowd of Republican-leaning farmers asked of Wagner in the showroom at Ritenour Equipment Center. Several wondered aloud the same question: can he win?

“We will win,” Wagner said.

After four years in the state Senate, the York County Republican resigned his seat in May to focus on the governor race. He’s since turned to a non-stop circuit of places like Butler and other Pennsylvania towns, his staffers assured those waiting to see their man among the lawn mower displays at Ritenour’s.

In Pennsylvania, just 21.3 percent of the state’s 12.7 million people lived in rural areas, as of the 2010 U.S. Census. In 2014, Gov. Tom Wolf won 58 percent in Allegheny County and 88 percent in Philadelphia County, while his GOP opponent Tom Corbett won 64 percent in Butler County.

Wagner offered a few ideas on the message he said will beat Wolf this fall.

The owner of a trucking company, Wagner complained of potholes. He said roads are in worse shape than ever before. He attributes their condition to bad road construction.

“People say government’s not a business, but you use the same practices,” Wagner said.

A common refrain for Wagner is his distaste for school district property taxes. He wants to eliminate the tax altogether while also converting the Pennsylvania school system to more emphasize trade programs. “Third-, fourth-, fifth-graders” should be learning about opportunities in fields like welding and plumbing.

He described an effect he calls “uphill domino,” in which unemployed Pennsylvanians take low paying jobs and those people currently holding those jobs are retrained in trade programs. He also said it’s “not the government’s business” to be retraining those people. He admired a Maine program that required community service hours from welfare recipients.

Asked about the future of Pennsylvania Turnpike tolling increases, Wagner deferred, saying “I do not have access to the financials of the turnpike commission.” The road is losing drivers, he said.

Walking in, Wagner asked Rick Ritenour, the owner of the host business, if he liked doing business in Pennsylvania. The pair spoke about business opportunities being lost over state lines to Ohio and of drivers heading out of state to refuel their cars. Ritenour said both problems needed solving.

“This is the first time I’ve hosted something like this,” Ritenour said. “I just think we need a lot of help, and I think he’s on the right track.”

Asked for specifics on economic development, Wagner turned secretive.

“I have a couple trade secrets which I’m not going to tell you,” Wagner said. “Because if I go out on the campaign trail and say this stuff, all of a sudden he (Wolf) is talking about this same stuff.”