INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller is pushing a “soft repeal” of the 17th Amendment so that U.S. Senate candidates are nominated by the Legislature instead of selected by voters in a primary.

Zoeller tells The Times in Munster (http://bit.ly/1iEy7Dc) that the shift would revive the idea that U.S. senators are ambassadors of a state's government and not free agents.

The proposal is a twist on the tea party's call for a full repeal of the 17th Amendment. States' rights conservatives say the federal government has come to view states as entities it controls instead of as the co-equal sovereigns envisioned under the U.S. Constitution.

Zoeller says shifting the nominating duties to legislatures could also reduce the number of legal challenges stemming from federal regulations.