HILLSBORO, Ohio (AP) -- "The Tonight Show" host Jay Leno says he'll be keeping an eye on a small town in southwest Ohio.

Hillsboro Mayor-elect Drew Hastings was a guest on Wednesday night's show on NBC. The standup comedian won election Nov. 8 in the city 50 miles east of Cincinnati.

Hastings said he had trouble getting taken seriously during his campaign, but believes years of touring have been "a fact-finding mission" about why some cities thrive and others decline.

Hastings told farm tales of developing callouses and riding a tractor for the first time. He says during pitch-black nights, a possum walking across a field sounds like three men with an ax.

Leno held up the front page of The Times-Gazette of Hillsboro on Hastings' election, saying he'd follow developments in the newspaper.