A state Supreme Court judge on Friday gave Democratic state lawmakers more time to submit new congressional and state Senate maps for consideration by a special master after New York's top court rejected both as unconstitutional earlier this week.
Democratic lawmakers will now have until Saturday to submit revised House district maps; proposed state Senate maps can be submitted by May 4, according to Mike Murphy, a spokesman for the state Senate Democrats.
The state Court of Appeals on Wednesday struck down the congressional district maps as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. The court also rejected the state Senate districts drawn by lawmakers arguing it did not follow the proper process -- giving some Democrats hope a version of the maps will still be upheld later this month.
The decision by the judge will give Democrats more time to submit potential revisions that could be considered by Jonathan Cervas, a court-appointed independent expert who will serve as a special master in the redistricting process. Plaintiffs in the Republican-backed legal challenge will also be able to submit their own maps to the special master for consideration.
Cervas' has until May 20 to submit his own version of the maps.
The rejection of the congressional and state Senate districts has thrown New York's political calendar into a state of chaos. Party primaries were scheduled for June 28, with the first day of early voting taking place on June 18.
Lawmakers are likely to split the primaries between June for the races unaffected by the redistricting ruling -- governor, lieutenant governor and state Assembly -- and move the U.S. House and state Senate primaries to August.