Philadelphia (CNN) A slew of leaked emails was the last straw for Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who announced Sunday afternoon her resignation as chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee effective later this week.

But for the Florida congresswoman, her dramatic exit was a long time coming.

Elected to the House of Representatives in 2004, Wasserman Schultz, 49, began her tenure as head of the DNC in 2011. Fellow Democrats expected the congresswoman -- who came up through local Florida politics with stints in the state House and Senate -- to be a sharp communicator and defender of the national party, with a high-profile presence on television.

Yet complaints arose about her effectiveness as a public spokesperson, as well as her delivery on the fundraising front. She struggled to raise the kind of cash that national party leaders had hoped for, in part because of an outside group set up by President Barack Obama -- Organizing for Action -- that diverted resources away from the DNC fundraising machine.

With some fellow Democrats already growing frustrated with Wasserman Schultz's performance, it came under even more scrutiny during the 2016 primary season as supporters of Bernie Sanders accused the chairwoman of being partial to Hillary Clinton.

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