The campaign for Iowa’s 4th Congressional District seat got a little hotter today, with incumbent Republican Tom Latham going on the offensive for the first time, accusing his Democratic opponent of supporting “reckless Wall Street CEO’s.”

Republican Tom Latham and Democrat Becky Greenwald.

Republican Tom Latham and Democrat Becky Greenwald.

In a statement released this morning, Latham attacked challenger Becky Greenwald for saying she would have voted for the $700 billion Wall Street bailout bill passed earlier this month if she were in Congress, a bill Latham opposed.

“Reckless Wall Street CEO’s made a mess and they asked Iowans to pay to clean it up,” Matt Hinch, Latham’s spokesman, said in a statement. “Tom Latham stood up in Congress and protected Iowans by twice voting no on this massive Wall Street bailout. Tom Latham believes that, as a matter of principle, it is wrong to spend hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to reward, benefit and bailout those on Wall Street who created this mess.”

The move to directly attack Greenwald is a change in direction for the Latham campaign, which had been focusing on their candidate’s achievements in Congress. It could also be a signal of just how seriously the Latham campaign is taking Greenwald’s challenge. In recent weeks, Greenwald’s campaign has received attention from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and the endorsement of EMILY’s List, which funds Democratic women candidates who support abortion rights.

Greenwald spokeswoman Erin Seidler said the Democrat supported the bailout bill because “the risk of doing nothing was greater than the risk of doing something,” saying the bill is helping to put a floor under the crisis. She also noted that the bill provides $4.6 billion in flood relief for Iowa, a child income tax credit, a renewable-energy tax credit, and alternative minimum tax relief.

It was Latham’s years of support for deregulation of the financial markets that led to the crisis, Seidler said, calling Latham’s opposition to the bailout the “politically expedient vote” and  “just another sign of a Washington politician making the easy choice in an election year.”

Greenwald has been on the attack for months now, even launching a Web site, ReplaceTomLatham.com, where Latham is referred to as “Iowa’s low-yielding congressman.”

But after facing off in two debates last week, in Des Moines on Monday and in Mason City on Friday, Greenwald has upped the ante, aggressively challenging Latham’s views on health care reform and saying he favors privatizing Social Security.

In both instances, Latham has been forced to respond and defend his positions, saying Greenwald is distorting his words and trying to mislead voters.

“The Greenwald for Congress campaign’s selective editing to mislead Iowans about what Congressman Latham does support is the type of partisan politics as usual of which voters have grown tired and fed up,” Latham’s campaign said in a statement.

Greenwald said the record is clear, especially in regard to Social Security.

“He says he opposes privatization, but he just uses Washington speak to hide his support for this risky scheme,” Greenwald said in a press release, citing Latham’s support for allowing private accounts within Social Security. “With this country in an economic crisis, we can’t put the Social Security safety net at risk in the markets.”

Latham said he has been accused of supporting privatization before, and that his campaign even offered a $10,000 check to anyone who could offer proof that he ever voted for or supported such a plan.

“We still have that check,” he said Friday during the Mason City debate.

The candidates are expected to face off one more time on Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press,” although a date has not yet been announced.