In fact, I think there should be a law common to all states mandating the Governor to make an interim appointment from the party with which the previous incumbent was affiliated. That way the Senate does not change and the will of the electorate stands until such time as they elect a new senator
What can be any fairer than that, I ask?
The will of the electorate is for the Senator they elected to be in office, not someone who's simply in the same party. Under your proposal, in the event of Sen. Chafee's death, Gov. Carcieri could appoint a staunch conservative such as Laffey to replace him. Would that be representative of who the people of the state elected to office? Of course not.
