State Rep. Chris England, the new chair of the Alabama Democratic Party, said today that the state party has raised more than $100,000 in the two months since he took over the party on Nov. 2, compared to only $8,000 the state Democrats raised in the last election cycle.

“It’s very difficult for me to contain my excitement,” England said. “We are going to have a platform, we are going to have a consistent message based on that platform. My number one goal is no one goes out in public and is afraid to say they’re a Democrat anymore.”

England was greeted with a standing ovation as he spoke to nearly 90 people attending the monthly meeting of the Downtown Democratic Club on Friday afternoon at the Harbert Center in Birmingham.

“We’ve got opportunities now,” said U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, who introduced England. “He has done more in two months than has been done in two years.”

A reorganized governing board elected England as chair, ousting longtime state party leader Nancy Worley. Worley filed a lawsuit to block England from taking control. Montgomery Circuit Judge Greg Griffin has scheduled a hearing on the case for Jan. 30. The party’s old bank accounts have been frozen, which is a good thing, England said.

Two new accounts have been opened and the social media accounts have been activated, he said. “We’re already fully operational,” he said. He hopes the lawsuit will be dismissed, removing obstacles for the new leadership.

The National Democratic Party supported the change and recognizes England as state chair.

Under Worley, the state party had no active social media, was unsuccessful at fundraising for candidates, and sometimes did not answer mail for two years, Jones said.

“Nobody could figure out what was going on,” Jones said.

England said the state Democratic Party had “atrophied,” suffering from “neglect and apathy.”

As a state representative from Tuscaloosa since 2006, England said he watched as Republicans gained a super-majority in the Legislature. “We’re not going to change it overnight,” he said.

“Being a Democrat ain’t easy, y’all,” he told the group. “We represent the marginalized people in our society.”

Jones worked to get a new leader installed for the state Democratic Party. “I put all my weight behind it,” Jones said. “It had to be done.”

England has already set in motion a transformation of the state Democratic Party, which now has an active social media presence and successful fundraising apparatus, Jones said.

“He is somebody who can take this party to where it needed to go,” Jones said.

England, 43, a graduate of Howard University and the University of Alabama School of Law, grew up in Tuscaloosa, the son of Circuit Court Judge John H. England Jr., who served as a justice on the Alabama Supreme Court in 1999-2000.