Last week in Jamestown, Congressman Nick Langworthy closed his district office on Second Street, Jamestown, after what the congressman said were credible threats.

Langworthy said in a news release there had been threats against both Langworthy and members of his staff. A year ago vandalism took place at Langworthy’s Jamestown office while, a short time later, a suspicious package was sent to Langworthy’s Clarence, N.Y., office.

There have been no such threats against Congressman Glenn Thompson. It’s 60 miles from Jamestown to Oil City, where Thompson’s nearest district office is located, but the atmosphere around the two congressional representatives couldn’t be more different.

Thompson has been criticized occasionally over the years for not attending town hall meetings or debates, but there haven’t been mass protests outside his district offices. There is criticism of Thompson on social media, but the tenor of that criticism reads differently than the criticism of Langworthy seen on social media.

Langworthy’s ties to President Donald Trump are one reason the New York Republican finds himself in the middle of controversy. Trump engenders strong feelings both among those who support his policies and those who oppose them. He does not fall in the mold of the presidents we have seen in the past in the way he speaks and, thus far in his second term in office, in the policies he is pursuing. Langworthy finds himself in the crosshairs given his relationship with the president dating back to Trump’s first term. Trump has turned up the heat on Democrat-led states like New York, and that has placed Langworthy and other Trump supporters – particularly those in blue states – in the frying pan as well.

Thompson finds himself in a different situation despite his staunch support of Trump and his policies. Consider that a difference between a blue state and a purple state like Pennsylvania — common sense still reigns in the commonwealth.