PHILADELPHIA--U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge said Monday that she was picked as permanent chair of the Democratic National Convention weeks before Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigned.

"I was asked weeks ago. I just kept it quiet," the Warrensville Heights Democrat told reporters at an Ohio Democratic National Convention delegation breakfast.

Wasserman Schultz was initially slated to preside over the convention as DNC chair, according to media reports. However, Wasserman Schultz announced Sunday that she will resign as chair when the convention ends, as a result of leaked emails that appear to show top DNC aides strategizing against U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders during the Democratic primary.

As permanent chair, Fudge will gavel each day of the convention to order and to close, as well as maintain order as Democrats vote to nominate former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for president and U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia for vice president.

Wasserman Schultz is still set to open the convention on Monday and close it on Thursday.

Fudge, who represents much of Cleveland and Akron, said she believed she was picked by presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's campaign to chair the convention in part because she's from Ohio, a key swing state.

"I think as well, I come from a part of Ohio that's the strongest voting Democratic bloc in the state," she added. "I think as well is that Hillary and I have been friends for some years, as well as I was one of the early supporters" of Clinton's campaign.

The job gives Fudge national attention, and it's a sign of her high standing in the party. But it's not a guaranteed springboard to political stardom: the previous three Democratic convention chairs were Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in 2012, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2008, and then-New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson in 2004.

Sanders supporters have fanned out to delegation hotels to collect signatures to force a roll call vote on the Vermont senator's nomination.

Fudge said she wants to give Sanders' backers a lot of leeway to express themselves.

"As long as they stay within the rules, they can say anything they want," she said. "I honestly believe that I need for them to understand that they are a part of this party and we want them to be a part of this party. If they want a roll call vote, I'm going to give them one."