The Columbia Journalism Review’s Steven Brill raised an interesting question on Thursday: Could Hawaii’s trouble implementing Race to the Top education reform affect the U.S. Senate race? 

Federal officials are in Hawaii this week to review the state’s progress. Back in December, the U.S. Department of Education put Hawaii on “high-risk status,” threatening to pull the $75 million in funding due to “unsatisfactory performance.”

By scolding Hawaii, the Obama administration indicated that the DOE could be making an example of Hawaii as a way to show other states that grant recipients will be held accountable.

So what could this have to do with the U.S. Senate race? Brill argues that if U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan ends up pulling the funding, the huge embarrassment for Gov. Neil Abercrombie will reflect poorly on Hawaii Democrats across the board. 

Here’s how he puts it: “So, if there’s a tight Senate race in Hawaii this fall that might even determine control of the U.S. Senate, will Duncan stick to his guns and undercut the Democratic candidate, not to mention embarrass the Democratic governor, by lowering the boom?”

Education is likely to be a major issue in the race anyway. Republican frontrunner Linda Lingle is already doing damage control for the school furloughs that were mandated while she was governor. We’ll be watching to see how she discusses Hawaii’s handling of Race to the Top money as the campaign progresses.