PA-Gov: GOP's Wagner says, 'I want this job so bad I can taste it.' Wolf running mate blasts him.

Scott Wagner, Pennsylvania's Republican nominee for governor, told a crowd during the first stop on his town hall tour Thursday night that "I want this job so bad I can taste it," PennLive reported.

With running mate Jeff Bartos at his side, Wagner also told listeners at the Cumberland County gathering that he can "smell, taste the opportunities in what we could do," the outlet said.

Wagner had invited his opponent, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, to appear with him at the town halls and debate — but Wolf 's campaign dismissed the offer as a gimmick, PennLive said.

What else did Wolf's side have to say?

Wolf's running mate, Braddock Mayor John Fetterman, went on a rant about Wagner earlier Thursday, calling the GOP challenger Trump-like, a foe of abortion and unions, and not caring about the common good, the outlet reported.

"What a profoundly bad choice Scott Wagner would be for the residents of Pennsylvania," Fetterman also said, PennLive noted. "You know what's at stake by what Governor Wolf constantly has to beat back from the Republican Legislature."

The Wagner campaign on Friday countered to TheBlaze that "it would be a profoundly bad choice for Pennsylvanians to elect John Fetterman and Tom Wolf, who want to steal the tax savings that President Trump fought hard to provide. Scott is running so that the forgotten people of Pennsylvania can choose to keep more of their hard-earned dollars rather than have Tom Wolf continue to waste them in Harrisburg."

What else did Wagner have to say at the town hall?

Wagner spoke about his childhood, the outlet said — and contrasted his experiences with Wolf's.

More from PennLive:

Wagner began by talking about his humble upbringing in a family of six with a father who would get by eating what he called "cracker soup," a handful of Saltine crackers crumbled in a bowl with coffee poured over them, to make sure there was enough food for rest of the family to eat.

He contrasted that to Wolf, who he said came from an affluent family. Unlike him who started his businesses from scratch, he said Wolf was a sixth generation business owner.

"He doesn't know what it's like to eat cracker soup or live paycheck to paycheck," Wagner said.

Wagner also called for cutting business regulations, fighting the opioid crisis, providing better care for veterans and senior citizens, and looking at education with new eyes by attracting youth into good-paying trades jobs to fill needs around the state, the outlet said. He also promised to cut business taxes, raise the minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to between $9.50 and $9.75 per hour, and get rid of property taxes, PennLive said.

"When Tom Wolf ran in 2014, he was running around campaigning. He promised he would give everybody property tax relief. Well, he hasn't and more and more families are forced out of their homes," Wagner told the town hall, the outlet said. "If you vote for me, and I become the next governor. I will eliminate the school taxes on your home."



This story has been updated.