Each of the 50 states is represented in the Senate by two senators, per the U.S. Constitution. So the fact that Hawaii has the opportunity this fall to become the only state with three senators is a pretty big deal.

Well, not officially three. But the increasingly likely election of Rep. Tammy Duckworth to a Senate seat in Illinois may be just as good as the real thing.

As many locals know, Duckworth and her family moved to Honolulu when she was 16. She graduated — with honors — from McKinley High School before going on to the University of Hawaii Manoa and earning a bachelor’s degree in political science.

She met the late Congressman Mark Takai through student government at UH, which Takai led as student body president. They remained friends over the next three decades until Takai’s untimely death from pancreatic cancer in July.

Following her graduation from UH, she joined Army ROTC while a graduate student at George Washington University. During subsequent doctoral studies at Northern Illinois University, she was deployed to Iraq in 2004. While piloting a helicopter there, she was shot down with a rocked-propelled grenade, losing her right leg entirely and half her left leg.

But just two years later, she was appointed director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. She joined the Obama administration in 2009 as assistant secretary of public and intergovernmental affairs at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, a post she held for two years until resigning to run for Congress as a Democrat in 2011.

When she won the race the following year, she and Hawaii’s Tulsi Gabbard became the first women combat veterans to be elected to the U.S. Congress. Duckworth also became a powerfully personal symbol of the costs of war and of dedication to public service.

She didn’t forget her friends in Hawaii, even as she took on new responsibilities and visibility in Washington. Early in 2014, she flew to Honolulu for an event in support of Takai’s congressional campaign at McKinley High School, mingling with the crowd over rice and stew before rising from her wheelchair to offer enthusiastic support for Takai from the podium.

The election looms large for Democrats, too: In the party’s bid to retake the Senate majority, Duckworth’s election is one of the races party leaders are counting on.

She took part in other Takai events in Honolulu throughout the campaign. Once Takai was elected, she became a mentor, helping him acclimate to life in Washington.

When he passed away, she mourned him publicly, posting to Twitter, “My friend of 27 yrs passed. @RepMarkTakai servd frm UHStudentSenate, 20 yrs @state legislature & US Congress + Army @NationalGuard #devastated,” and later, “My friend is gone & we r poorer 4 it.”

Duckworth announced her bid for the U.S. Senate in 2015 for the seat currently held by incumbent Republican Mark Kirk, who has long been thought to be the most vulnerable senator seeking re-election this year.

Polling in the race bears that out. The most recent survey showed that among 865 likely Illinois voters, she held a 14-point lead over Kirk, 48 percent to 34 percent. According to the Real Clear Politics website, in three polls conducted over the past month, she has an average lead of seven points.

The election looms large for Democrats: In the party’s bid to retake the Senate majority, Duckworth’s election is one of the races party leaders are counting on. Currently, Republicans hold a four-seat majority and have more members facing re-election races than Democrats, with the added baggage of Donald Trump at the top of the GOP ticket. Political analysts largely say it’s too close to call who will win majority status.

But the stakes for Hawaii are just as big. With both our state’s current senators — Brian Schatz, who faces a relatively easy general election race for re-election, and Mazie Hirono — from the minority party, having the Democrats take control and a new colleague with deep Hawaii roots could be a boon.

Schatz and Hirono have less than seven years’ seniority between them. The chance to form an alliance with Duckworth, who is already invested in issues of major importance to Hawaii (defense, veterans affairs, energy and the environment), could increase their impact in a caucus that likely wouldn’t exceed 52 members, even though Duckworth would be a freshman.

Add this race to those you’re following. Come Nov. 8, it could make a difference for Hawaii.