An upstate judge cut embattled New York Democrats a break on Friday by giving them additional time to submit changes to their illegally gerrymandered congressional lines to the man charged with redrawing them following a ruling by the state’s highest court striking down the maps.

“We intend to submit a proposed Congressional plan by no later than April 30, 2022, which is the deadline the Appellate Division had set, and we are hopeful that we will be able to submit it by tomorrow,” attorney Eric Hecker, who represents state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, said in a letter sent to state Supreme Court Justice Patrick McAllister earlier on Friday.

Republicans had argued it would be unfair to show Democrats any leniency considering efforts by GOP attorneys to meet the original deadline set by McAllister.

“[Republicans] complied with this April 22 deadline under very significant time pressures, given that they were preparing for merits briefing and oral argument before the Appellate Division, as well as supplemental briefing and oral argument before the Court of Appeals, during the April 18–22 period. [Democrats] decided to sit on their hands, hoping that they would win on appeal,” reads the April 29 letter from GOP attorney Bennet Moskowitz to the judge.

A spokesman for Stewart-Cousins, Mike Murphy, confirmed the extension Friday.

Murphy said in a statement earlier in the day that “the active litigation had not yet concluded and as expected, the Court authorized additional submissions after its final decision was issued” in response to a request for comment about why Democrats did not submit proposed congressional lines to McAllister considering the possibility that they would ultimately be struck down by the Court of Appeals. 

Many Democrats had expected a favorable ruling from the state’s highest court, whose justices have all been appointed by governors from their party, but the court ultimately sided with the Republican plaintiffs in a tight 4-3 decision.

The ruling means primaries for state Senate and Congress will be moved from June to August while races for statewide races and Assembly will remain in June – a situation that could cost taxpayers millions of additional dollars compared to a consolidated primary date.

The Court of Appeals ruling also voided the legislatively approve state Senate map, finding state lawmakers lacked the authority to pass them after the Independent Redistricting Commission failed to deliver new lines for state lawmakers to approve, following an earlier round of rejected maps from the commission.

Democrats have until May 4 to provide new lines for the state Senate after successfully petitioning McAllister that deadline be moved one day earlier so that there could be a full day to consider lines proposed by all parties to court-appointed special master Jonathan Cervas.

He has until May 20 to submit maps for McAllister to approve. 

The voided congressional lines would have given Democrats a big boost to flip several Republicans seats in the U.S. House in midterm elections that appear favorable to the GOP. Democrats were also positioned to expand their supermajority in the state Senate until the Court of Appeals ruling upended the electoral landscape in the Empire State.

Albany Democrats have yet to say whether they will seek legislative action that would move party primaries for statewide offices like governor and Assembly, which could help Governor Kathy Hochul drop disgraced ex-Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin as her running mate despite ongoing resistances from Democratic lawmakers.

The governor has a public event scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday in Albany.