A dispute over control of the Alabama Democratic Party is headed to court.

Party Chair Nancy Worley and others filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking to stop a faction of the party’s governing committee from meeting this weekend to elect new leaders.

Montgomery Circuit Judge Greg Griffin has scheduled a Thursday morning hearing on the request to block the meeting.

An ongoing struggle has split the party’s executive committee into two factions.

On one side is a reform group whose actions have been approved by the Democratic National Committee.

On the other are members aligned with Worley and Joe Reed, the party’s vice chairman of minority affairs.

The lawsuit contends a scheduled Saturday meeting, where the reform group intends to elect a new chair, is unauthorized and is being held illegally.