A Republican Senator from Hawaii?

When Hawaii held its first Senate election in 1959, it elected one Republican and one Democrat.  That Republican, Hiram Fong, held on to that seat until 1977, when he retired.  Since then, no Republican has been elected Senator from Hawaii.

That could possibly change in 2012.  According to a recent poll, former Hawaii governor Linda Lingle, a Republican, is within the margin of error of two of her likely Democratic opponents.  The Weekly Standard reports:

Lingle, a two-term Republican governor, leads Democratic congresswoman Mazie Hirono 45 percent to 40 percent and trails former Democratic congressman Ed Case by just 1 point, 41 percent to 40 percent.

As the Standard notes, this race still leans Democratic, but those numbers are a lot closer than Senate races have been in the past.