The ex-campaign manager for former Iowa congressional candidate Theresa Greenfield has publicly apologized in a newspaper ad for faking signatures on petition paperwork last year.

The fake signatures led Greenfield to drop out last year from the Democratic primary for Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District race in 2018, a little more than a year ago.

In a full-page ad in the Des Moines Sunday Register, Noah Wasserman said he falsified signatures in required petition documents that Greenfield and other Iowa candidates were required to submit to get on the ballot.

The ad was the first time Wasserman has publicly commented on the incident. The incident is well-known; back in March 2018, Greenfield abruptly withdrew her petition signatures shortly before the deadline and announced that her campaign manager had faked signatures.

Greenfield said she immediately fired Wasserman, though at the time she did not share his name. Greenfield attempted, with the help of staff on other Democratic campaigns, to collect new signatures to qualify for the primary ballot. She ended up coming short, ending her election bid.

U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne went on to win the June primary for the congressional seat and defeated David Young last November, making history as one of the first women to represent Iowa in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Wasserman said in the ad that the pressure of the campaign “was truly affecting me.”

“I was exhausted and frustrated. With just a week remaining to submit the necessary signatures, we were still a few signatures short. I desperately wanted to shift our attention to other matters — namely the upcoming fundraising deadline and county conventions. Instead of asking for help, I falsified signatures, lied to Theresa, and told her to submit the nomination documents. Neither she, nor anyone else, knew what I had done,” he wrote.

Wasserman said despite the help of friends, family and a therapist, “I struggled to move forward in life.”

Wasserman said the fear of criminal prosecution held him back from saying more in the months since the incident. He said he wrote apology letters in January to Greenfield and others on the campaign.

Wasserman said he wanted to apologize to the people whose signatures he used and to Iowans “for denying you the possibility of voting for a terrific candidate."

"So while some would call what I did an 'error in judgment,' it feels even more personal — like a betrayal. For that, I am especially sorry," he wrote.

Wasserman said he has not spoken with Greenfield. On Sunday, Greenfield said news of the ad "took me back to a lot of emotions.” She said she did receive a letter from Wasserman in January.

“It’s good to see Noah on a healing path," she said. "Apologizing for his actions and accepting responsibility is really a good first step along that path."

Greenfield has been quiet about her future in politics. She has been mentioned by some as a potential Democratic challenger to Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, who is up for re-election in 2020.

“I can’t confirm anything at this time,” Greenfield said Sunday about her future plans. But she reiterated that she made the right decision last year to immediately withdraw her petition signatures when she learned of Wasserman's actions.

Greenfield added: “I would run for office again, absolutely. This experience did not shake me. In some ways, it inspired me."