Durus, DJ is corect that you can’t take the current legislature of a state as a proxy for the state itself. Remember how North Carolina elected Jesse Helms to the Senate in 1972 and reelected him in 1978, 1984, 1990 and 1996? Well, had Senate elections in NC been held in the state legislature, instead of allowing the citizens of NC to vote, Helms never would have come close to election, as the NC state legislature was dominated by the Democrats from the 1870s until 2011 (except for a brief interregnum after the 1894 elections in which a coalition of Republicans and Populists controlled the legislature), so NC would have continued to send liberal Democrats to the Senate to this day. Thanks to the 17th Amendment, the people of North Carolina, and not the Democrat politicians in the state legislature, have been able to decide who should represent the state in the U.S. Senate, and all Americans benefited from having the great Jesse Helms as the conservative lion of the Senate. With no 17th Anendment, Helms would have had to remain as a broadcaster for the Tobacco Radio Network instead of representing the people of his state in the U.S. Senate.
I could just as easily say that without the 17th amendment there wouldn't have been a depression, No Social Security, no prohibition, no rise of organized crime, no NFA, No ATF, No FBI, No rise of the welfare state, and the end result would have been the utter destruction of the Democrat party. Do I really think that all would have happened? Probably not, no...but at least it's somewhat plausible, unlike suggesting that if a law hadn't been passed in 1913 then a guy in 1972 might not have been appointed.
It's absurd to suggest that if the 17th amendment hadn't passed then absolutely everything that followed would be exactly the same, leading to the exact same political compositions of states legislatures and the exact same people running for office.
getting rid of party lines on the ballot is a bigger deal and worthwhile goal than Am17 .... then the state capitols are less likely to control the state capitols. THe California topTwo primary thing would be great for CT