I don’t support repealing the 17th Amendment because I live in Illinois, a state where both houses of the legislature are controlled by Democrats. If the legislature could elect U.S. senators, IL wouldn’t have elected republican senators in 1998 and 2010, and IL probably wouldn’t elect republican senators, during the next 10 years, at least.
With repeal, IL wouldn’t elect another GOP Senator for the forseeable future. Not just 10 years, perhaps 50, maybe 100. Even if one would get elected, they would be like the execrable Mark Kirk, not Peter Fitzgerald. The last legislature that had enough Republicans MIGHT have been able to elect a Senator was the 1997 session (which Durbin won when it came open), when the total number of Republicans and Democrats was 89 each.
The last time there was an outright majority during a Senate race was in 1981, when Adlai Stevenson 3d retired, and the GOP had 120 members to the Dems 115 (back when you still had the “big” House). Of course, at least 1/3rd of those members were potential “phonies”, those districts that required a member of the minority party whom were often puppets put up by the majority in a given district (the most notorious being some of the Chicago “Republicans”). So there’s no guarantee GOP then-Lt Governor Dave O’Neal would’ve beaten then-Dem Sec of State Alan Dixon.
But again, does show you that it has already been 32 years since they would’ve (on paper at least) had a majority to elect a Senator.