Prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1913, U.S. Senators were selected by the state legislatures. The 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides for the direct election of U.S. senators by the people in each state.
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There are 100 senators in the U.S. Congress. There are two for every state. There are 438 Representatives in Congress.
Congress is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. There are 100 senators in Congress which are two from each state.
Senators in the Senate are chosen by their state. The are elected to serve a period of six years before needing to be elected again.
They were chosen by state legislators
Under the Constitution, state legislatures chose the US Senators for their state. Until the passage of the 17th Amendment in 1913, state legislatures were the bodies who determined how senators were chosen. Some states and territories had already enacted popular election prior to the amendment's passage.