Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley escalated tensions within the Democratic Party by accusing its establishment of failing to invest equitably in progressive and diverse candidates. Her criticism specifically included Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, even as major party institutions and prominent Democrats were pouring resources into his campaign.

“The DSCC should take note because it is shameful that we are not seeing an equitable investment in progressive and diverse candidates like Abdul El-Sayed, like [Democratic Florida Senate candidate] Angie Nixon, like [Democratic Mississippi Senate candidate] Scott Colom,” Pressley said. She also praised Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for donating $1 million to El-Sayed’s campaign.

Ocasio-Cortez deserves credit for that contribution, particularly with her fundraising reserve sitting at $37 million. Pressley could have celebrated that generosity and the wider Democratic push to elect El-Sayed without manufacturing an ideological grievance that clashes with the scale of support already behind him.

Sen. Chuck Schumer’s Senate Majority PAC has spent $35 million and counting on the Michigan race. Top Democratic strategist Guy Cecil says the DSCC and Senate Majority PAC are spending more than $50 million combined in the state.

Figures of $14 million to $16 million in DSCC spending commitments have also been reported, although those amounts were not independently verified. Even without relying on those figures, the confirmed institutional support hardly resembles abandonment.

DSCC Chair Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has offered an unequivocal endorsement. “He’s a great candidate. He’s going to win, and we are all united,” Gillibrand said.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama are campaigning for El-Sayed as well. That is a remarkable level of institutional muscle for a candidate who defeated the party’s more moderate wing during the primary.

The polling also helps explain why Democrats are spending so heavily in Michigan. According to Nate Silver’s models, El-Sayed leads Republican Mike Rogers 48.5% to 45.1%, while Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jocelyn Benson holds a more comfortable 50.4% to 42.4% advantage.

That is a substantial difference between two Democrats running statewide in the same political environment. It also makes the party’s financial commitment to El-Sayed look like what it is: an effort to protect a competitive Senate seat and elect the nominee Democratic voters selected.

El-Sayed is one of only two Democratic Senate nominees underperforming the cycle’s strong Democratic lean. The other is Maine’s Troy Jackson, whose race has been mired in turmoil.

Multiple factors may be shaping the Michigan contest, but it is reasonable to ask whether El-Sayed’s leftist politics are somewhat out of step with a closely divided purple state. President Donald Trump won Michigan in two of the past three presidential elections, making the state difficult terrain regardless of progressive enthusiasm.

A more mainstream nominee might have required less spending, potentially leaving more resources for opportunities in Florida and Mississippi. Then again, Michigan might always have become a fierce battleground regardless of the nominee, and there is no way to know that counterfactual for certain.

What is clear is that Democratic primary voters made their choice, and the Democratic establishment opened its wallet. Florida and Mississippi remain possible opportunities to expand the Senate map, but they are reach seats, and money committed to defending Michigan cannot also be spent elsewhere.

El-Sayed would be a great addition to the Senate, and almost everyone in the party is working toward that result. This is precisely why Pressley’s attack is so frustrating: It portrays extensive Democratic support as neglect while obscuring the difficult choices involved in allocating limited campaign resources.

If El-Sayed falls short in November, it will not be because the Democratic establishment refused to invest time, money, and political capital in his campaign. Pressley should acknowledge the enormous effort already underway instead of inflaming an intraparty fight that helps nobody.