Voters in every county of the 4th Congressional District may have a chance to personally interview the two candidates vying to represent them on Capitol Hill.

Democrat Paul Johnson, who is running against Rep. Tom Latham, R-Iowa, in the November election, sent a letter to Latham’s office Tuesday challenging him to attend public forums in each of the 28 counties of the 4th Congressional District. The forums would feature both candidates, and the public would have the opportunity to ask them questions about any issue they want.

“The voters of the 4th district deserve the opportunity to ask us tough questions in person. After all, in a democracy the voters are the bosses, and candidates are applicants for a well-paid job,” Johnson wrote.

“Elections shouldn’t be about who can raise the most money from the biggest special interests to run the dirtiest television advertisements. Elections should be about offering straight answers about important issues to the people who pay our salaries and whose lives are directly affected by what we do.”

John Friedrich, Johnson’s campaign manager, said Johnson wanted to hold these forums for constituents because he believes the democratic process calls for such campaigning.

“Right now, campaigns consist of spending millions of dollars on television ads to run negative attack ads against your opponents … the whole process turns people off and causes them not to vote,” he said.

The cost for the forums would be low, Friedrich said — all it would cost the candidates is gas money, and the forums would ideally be hosted at a public facility.

“Paul has mentioned the idea to supporters, and of course people love the idea and think it makes sense,” he said.

Latham responded to Johnson’s letter Tuesday with a letter of his own, writing his Congressional schedule may not allow him to leave Washington until October, but didn’t mean forums wouldn’t be possible.

“I believe both of our campaigns can negotiate a reasonable debate schedule that will allow us to share our divergent agendas with Iowa’s voters,” he wrote. “Until then, you have the great advantage of sharing your opinions with voters while I am working in Washington to fulfill the job that I was elected to do.

“Voters will be best served in this campaign when we focus on the issues important to Iowa,” he wrote.