U.S. Sen. Doug Jones on Thursday accused Alabama Democratic Party leaders of making the state party “nonfunctional” and said they were hollowing out the organization.

Jones, who backed an effort to replace Alabama Democratic Party chair Nancy Worley at an August 2018 meeting of the State Democratic Executive Committee (SDEC), dismissed Worley’s accusations earlier this week that he was working with DNC Chair Tom Perez as part of an “all-out attack” on the state party.

“The problem is the leadership of our party believes they are the party,” Jones said on a conference call Thursday morning. “They believe they’re the only people who are important. There have been efforts to overturn the election of party leaders — that is not an attack on the Democratic Party. If there is any conspiracy at all it is a conspiracy to build that party.”

The remarks came amid a tense standoff between Worley and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) over new leadership elections for the Alabama Democrats and the revision of by-laws to ensure diversity on the state party's governing body.

“No one needs to preach to me about destroying a party or attacking a party,” said Jones, one of just two Democrats in the state's nine-member congressional delegation. “It’s being destroyed from within.”

Worley on Thursday afternoon suggested Jones' focus was misdirected.

"He should focus on working on his own campaign, not working to hurt his party by demeaning and trying to destroy its leadership," she said.

The Alabama Democratic Party has fallen into super-minority status in the Legislature and faced a rolling argument over its direction. Critics, including Jones, say Worley has allowed the party to wither at the local level and done little to support candidates. The party sat on hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds in the run-up to last November’s election.

More:Alabama Democratic Party sat on cash as Election Day approached

Worley and her supporters say she is trying to pay off accumulated debts from the party, which leave little for investments.

"The party is really made at the local level," she said Thursday. "If you have good Democrats, good leaders and good workers and you have good people who actually represent the views of other people, who represent a majority view of people in a county you’re going to have success. Success doesn't come from the top on down."

Worley and her allies held off Jones’ challenge at the August 2018 SDEC meeting. The DNC in February ordered new leadership elections after concluding that some members of the SDEC lacked the proper credentials to vote in the leadership elections. Under current bylaws, the vice-chair for minority affairs, Joe Reed, can place delegates on the SDEC reflective of the African American presence in the state party electorate. Critics argue that allows Reed, a supporter of Worley, to sway votes on the SDEC.

The DNC also ordered the party to revise its bylaws to provide greater representation for Hispanics; Asians; youth; those with disabilities, and LGBTQ individuals on the SDEC.

Since the order, the national and state party have entered a staring contest. Worley has argued that the national party has sent confusing or contradictory instructions; the DNC has accused the state party of missing deadlines and dragging its feet on leadership elections.

The argument has placed the party and upcoming primaries in limbo. In August, the DNC stripped Worley and vice-chair Randy Kelly of their DNC credentials, though they remain within their positions at the state level. In a letter to Jefferson County Democratic Party chair Richard Mauk earlier this week, Perez said that the Alabama Democratic Party’s delegate selection plan for next year’s Democratic National Convention would remain in limbo until new leadership elections were held.

Perez also wrote that the DNC was withholding $10,000 a month in party-building funds, the only state party to suffer that penalty.

“Alabama has fallen far short of meeting its basic obligations to develop an effective strategic plan and build the necessary infrastructure for success,” Perez wrote in the letter.

More:DNC Chair: Alabama Democrats not getting party-building funds

Worley earlier this week accused Jones and Perez of launching an “all-out attack” on the state party.

“It is time for Senator Jones and DNC Chair Perez to work and build with party leaders rather than fight and destroy our party,” the statement said. Worley stuck with the criticism Thursday, accusing Perez of "trying to beat us into submission."

More:Alabama Democratic Party chair accuses Jones, DNC of 'all-out attack'

Jones has said his campaign had to build its own infrastructure to win the 2017 special election for U.S. Senate in Alabama. Jones’ campaign manager, Wade Perry, and Worley openly feuded in the run-up to the election over what Jones' camp said was the state party’s lack of support.

Jones said on Thursday the state party failed in recruitment and support of Democratic Party candidates at the state level last year and said the party needed to be more inclusive. The senator, facing a difficult reelection battle next year, said he wanted a viable party, not necessarily a dominant one.

“We stand at a real crossroads right now,” he said. “We’ve got to reform this party and get new leadership to give our state a viable two-party system, which I think is so important for progress in this state.”

Updated at 4:55 p.m. with comments from Nancy Worley.