to pass some law restricting who the governor (a Democrat) could appoint should he exit before an election.

Here is what they passed:

The appointee shall be selected from a list of three (3) names submitted by the state executive committee of the same political party as the Senator who held the vacant seat to be filled, shall have been continuously registered as a member of that political party since December 31 of the preceding year, and shall be named within twenty-one (21) days from the date of the list submission

So he can pick the least odious out of 3 probably awful candidates by law now...

Edited to add, Daniel Cameron would probably be on the short list (*puke*)