UPDATE: Thanks to everyone who participated in our live chat this afternoon! The conversation (which you can read in the comments) ended at 3 p.m., and comments on this post are now closed.

“There’s nowhere to go but up,” state Rep. Chris England said the day Alabama Democrats elected him to lead their party.

That might have been an understatement.

Or worse, it might not be true. Not yet, anyway.

The Alabama Democratic Party has been a mess for a while. It has failed to elect candidates to statewide office. It has failed to raise money. It has failed to recruit new members. It has failed to get its message out, even on social media — which is free.

But now two factions are fighting in state court, each claiming to be the real Alabama Democratic Party, each with its own chairperson — England and state party reformers on one side; Nancy Worley and the Alabama Democratic Conference on the other.

And in the shadows of this fight is longtime party boss and ADC chairman Joe Reed, who recently threatened to take the fight to federal court.

At stake in this are things fundamental to Alabama politics: A functional two-party system, the viability of Sen. Doug Jones’ reelection campaign, representation for minorities in Alabama politics.

AL.com political columnist Kyle Whitmire has been following this story since the beginning and from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, he will be here to answer your questions in the comments section below.

The Q&A and chat session will be two-hour long with pre-moderated questions. If you have questions or opinions on the party, you may post them now in the comments section. Your comments will begin to show up when approved by moderators.

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