Outside groups and national party committees spent $1.65 million on the special congressional elections in New York and Nevada, according to an analysis by iWatch News. Just under half the total poured into the races in the final week.

In both races, the Democratic Party nominees have led in terms of direct campaign contributions. In Nevada, Kate Marshall (about $748,000 reported) has out-raised Republican Mark Amodei (about $659,000), while in New York David Weprin (about $684,000) has more than doubled the campaign cash of his opponent Bob Turner (about $323,000).

But in a possible harbinger of campaigns to come, the two Republican candidates received a huge boost from spending by outside groups, partially making up for what the candidates could not raise in direct contributions. Both Republicans won.

Eleven outside groups and party committees combined to spend over $1.65 million on ads, mailings, websites, phone calls and other get-out-the-vote efforts designed to influence the two special elections, according to an iWatch News analysis of data from the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Of those, only two — the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and the House Majority PAC — favored the Democratic candidates.

Party and non-party groups favoring the Republicans outspent their pro-Democratic counterparts $978,000 to $676,900, helping to partially offset the hard-money fundraising gap enjoyed by the Democrats.

Both parties’ national committees focused their independent expenditures on defending their home turf—the Republicans in Nevada and the Democrats in New York. And while Republican-allied groups spent almost $95,000 in support of the Republican candidate in New York, Democratic-leaning groups sat out the race in Nevada.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., is a powerful congressional chairman who has been a vocal critic of Obama administration policies he views as anti-business. But his fierce advocacy for the business community, specific deals under federal purview, as well as federally-funded projects and congressional earmarks, has also netted him millions and raised the specter for conflict of interest, according to the New York Times.

The story details a congressman who has unabashedly maintained and increased scores of business interests as his profile in Washington has grown. Issa has ties to telecommunications companies and banks, among other interests.

The story notes that a congressional ethics committee probe was considered and then dismissed amid a lack of evidence that Issa had direct conflicts in his congressional role.

Issa’s Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hired staff that had deep ties to industry, including conservative billionaire activists David and Charles Koch and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, iWatch News reported in February.

iWatch News also profiled Issa, including his big PAC contributors and revolving door from his staff, after the November election sealed his chairmanship.

Issa’s committee also investigated whether a Democratic candidate in Chicago had received political favors from regulators; an inspector’s general report later cleared the bank.

The number of former lobbyists now working for lawmakers has increased more than 100 percent from the last Congress, according to a report from the Center for Responsive Politics.

The 111^th Congress included 60 former lobbyists; the number has increased to 128 in the 112^th. In addition to the large increase, CRP noted that more former lobbyists are working for Republicans than for Democrats. Given the current Republican majority in the House, this is not altogether surprising. However, only 55 percent of the current Congress is Republican and a disproportionate 63 percent of former lobbyists work for Republican representatives and senators.

The issue of hiring former lobbyists as staffers is even more apparent among freshman members of Congress, the report said.

The trend extends beyond the offices of senators and representatives. Some of the congressional staffers who once worked as lobbyists are now employed as congressional committee staffers, in some cases serving on the same committees they once lobbied.

The House Energy and Commerce, House Financial Services and Senate Energy and Natural Resources committees each employ the most former lobbyists, at least 12. Several former lobbyists once held extensive client lists, most notably Charles Kinney, who represented 111 clients before joining the staff of Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.

Almost a third of the Blue Dog Democrats who retired or were defeated in 2010 have gone to work for organizations that lobby their former colleagues in Congress, according to an iWatch News review.

The Blue Dog ranks were devastated by the 2010 election, falling from a high of 54 to 26. Of those no longer in Congress, eight have moved through the “revolving door” to employment with lobbying entities.

The conservative Blue Dogs formed a key voting bloc for much of the last congressional session, drawing impressive fundraising from energy, financial and health care industry groups hoping to impact proposed legislation from the Obama administration. However, once that legislation was either passed or stalled, industry groups began abandoning the pro-business coalition, instead favoring their Republican opponents.

Some have expressed interest in running for their seats in 2012. Others have opted to retire. These are the eight who went on to work for organizations or companies that engaged in federal lobbying during the first quarter of 2011: