Darren Bailey points finger at Secretary of State police day after blaming Pritzker for death threat

CHICAGO (WLS) -- One day after charges were filed against a man accused of threatening to kill Darren Bailey, the finger pointing continues.

Gov. JB Pritzker accused Bailey of trying to politicize the situation while Bailey raised concerns about why the Secretary of State police dismissed the threat as not credible.

Scott Lennox, the 21-year-old Chicago man charged with making a death threat phone call to Bailey, still has not posted bond. He remains locked up at Cook County Jail Thursday.

Bailey and Pritzker, meanwhile, remained locked in a battle of words with the election just five days away.

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Pritzker met with seniors in Englewood Thursday morning encouraging them to vote as Election Day draws ever closer.

Meanwhile, Bailey and his wife Cindy early voted in Louisville as Bailey expressed frustration over how threat against him and his family was initially handled.

Lennox is charged with leaving a threatening voice message for Bailey saying he was going to "skin him alive" and kill him. The Illinois State Police pursued the case after the Secretary of State's police dismissed the threat as not credible.

"Everything comes from the top, so this is a failure of leadership," Bailey said. "It lays squarely on the shoulders of Jesse White."

The Secretary of State's office said in response: "If there was failure, it lies on the shoulders of Sen. Bailey. Sen. Bailey chose not to file charges, that is, until his campaign decided to politicize the issue."

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Prosecutors said Lennox made the threatening phone call after seeing an ad about Bailey on TV at a bar. Bailey blames Prizker's campaign rhetoric.

"Darren Bailey wants to turn this into a political argument," Pritzker said. "I think that's inappropriate."

Bailey said Thursday that he and his family now feel safe.

"When they come after our children and our grandchildren and the entities we've invested in all our lives, our farm and other things that we're involved in, that's a problem," his wife Cindy Bailey said. "And it makes me righteously angry."

Pritzker said he's received many threats against him the last few years, and said he feels sorry for Bailey and his family.

"We're in the middle of a political campaign, I think we just need to bring down the tone of this and make sure that we're protecting anybody who's under threat," Pritzker said.

The candidates are now focused on getting out the vote. Pritzker held a second event Thursday afternoon and Bailey is holding a rally downstate Thursday night.