Has the 2002 déjà vu set in yet? The 2012 race for U.S. Senate looks a lot like the 2002 race for governor.

Once again, Ed Case and Mazie Hirono are facing off in the Democratic primary. And once again, it will be Case or Hirono who will face Republican Linda Lingle in the general election. 

Both Case and the Hirono campaign issued statements after Lingle confirmed her Senate candidacy this morning. 

“I welcome Linda Lingle to the U. S. Senate election. Hawai‘i’s voters couldn’t have a clearer choice among very different candidates in the most important election in a generation…” Case wrote. “If nominated, I ask Linda to travel with me throughout Hawai‘i to discuss our values side-by-side where voters can size us up for themselves.”

Hirono’s campaign echoed an earlier statement by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee that played up Lingle’s conservative roots: 

“Lingle’s announcement today isn’t particularly surprising,” wrote Jadine Nielsen, finance chair of the campaign. “The national Republican Party has been anxious to move Lingle back to center stage as they did at the 2008 Republican National Convention, when Lingle went on national television to second Sarah Palin’s nomination for Vice President and endorse the McCain-Palin ticket over our island son, Barack Obama.”