While most eyes focused on the 2012 U.S. Senate race in Florida were focused on Tuesday on the announcement from former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux that he was entering the race, his fellow Republican candidate, former House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, garnered some national conservative attention.

On Monday, social and religious conservative activist Gary Bauer, best known for his leadership of the Family Research Council and his bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, offered his thoughts on Terry Jones, the Gainesville preacher who has been leading Quran burnings.

Former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux announced on Tuesday that he was going to run for the Republican nomination to take on incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012.

A bill requiring women getting an abortion to undergo an ultrasound and listen to a description of the fetus passed its first committee hurdle in the Senate Monday.

The bill received opposition from just one Republican, Sen. Jack Latvala of Clearwater, who said he couldn't support what he said was the government's intrusion into health care decisions.

A bill allowing electric utilities to increase bills as much as 2 percent each year in order to invest in creating renewable, alternative sources of energy, passed the Senate Energy and Public Utilities.

An amendment offered by Sen. Thad Altman, R-Viera, would have required 20 percent of the renewable energy created to be bought from smaller producers, but it failed in an 11-3 vote.

Viewpoint Florida released a poll on Monday showing that Floridians generally gave both of their two U.S. senators solid marks.

Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, who was elected to the position back in November,won the approval of 61 percent of those surveyed and the disapproval of 30 percent. Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, who is up for a third term next year, did worse with 45 percent approval and 38 percent disapproval.

The survey of 838 likely voters took place on March 29 and March 30 and had a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percent.

From FOXBusiness comes the news that McDonald's is poised to hire 50,000 people on April 19. That's right, 50,000.

In other words, that's more than 25 percent of all the jobs that were created in the U.S. in March. By one company. In a single day.

From the report:

Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw received the Spirit of Enterprise award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce due to his record on economic issues.

The Chamber is honored to recognize Congressman Crenshaw for helping create an environment in which businesses can grow and create jobs, said Thomas Donohue, the president and CEO of the organization. He has shown great conviction by standing on the side of business, at a time when it matters most.

President Barack Obama announced on Monday that he intended to seek a second term.

The Obama team launched a video as well as awebsite on Monday.

While the video focused on Obama backers and why they supported the presidents bid for a second term, the website did have one telling feature as it included a reference to Obama-Biden.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday that the national employment rate dropped slightly in March -- from 8.9 percent in February to 8.8 percent. This is the lowest rate in two years. While an estimated 216,000 more Americans found jobs in March, 13.5 million still remain unemployed. Florida has remained lagging behind the rest of the nation in terms of the unemployment rate. In February, the most recent month when stats were compiled, the unemployment rate in the Sunshine State stood at 11.5 percent.