Without the 17-A, Ted Cruz would have never been elected to the U.S. Senate in the first place. David Dewhurst would have been overwhelmingly selected for the job by his pals in the TX legislature.
There are more states with Republican legislatures. Most of them have RAT or RINO US Senators.
If those legislature were to be choosing the Senator instead of the RAT cities, the landscape would be a lot different.
Why else do you think most GOP Senators are RINO?