Pro-life leader Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue, will announce Thursday that he will challenge President Barack Obama in the 2012 Democratic primaries.

Florida-based politicians will be keeping an eye on the Family Research Council’s presidential straw poll at the Value Voters Summit coming up this weekend in Washington. There’s a whopping 17 Republicans whose name will be featured in contention.

Disregarding a threat by House Democrats and the admonishment of one male Republican, the Senate voted Thursday to require that most pregnant women in their first trimester pay for an ultrasound when seeking an abortion.

The Senate passed by 23-16 a House health care bill amended with the ultrasound requirement, proposed by Orlando Republican Andy Gardiner. The bill now goes back to the House for a vote.

Emmy award-winning journalist Deborah Gianoulis, a fixture on Jacksonville television as an evening news anchor for almost 25 years, announced Tuesday that she was running as a Democrat against Sen. John Thrasher of Jacksonville, chairman of the Republican Party of Florida. Thrasher’s district stretches from Nassau County, through Jacksonville and Duval County, and includes parts of St. Johns and Flagler counties before ending in Volusia County.