A staggeringly large amount of money flooded into the battle for control of the House yesterday, as the GOP and Democratic Party dump a combined total of over $4.5 million races into dozens of House races across the country, new FEC filings show. We have highlights of the spending after the jump — and they're well worth a look, because they provide a snapshot of the latest thinking of the parties on the electoral map.

Here are highlights from the DCCC's total expenditure of $2,583,708.37 on 24 races in 17 states breaks down as follows:

* A startling $1,106,211.75 of this went into the race between Dem Paul Hodes and GOP incumbent Charlie Bass in New Hampshire.

* A first-time expenditure of $26,296.00 for Dan Seals, which suggests that Dems think they've got an increasingly good shot of knocking off Rep. Mark Kirk in Illinois.

* $113,932.88 on ads attacking Rep. John Sweeney of New York, who is currently in trouble over new allegations of domestic violence.

And here are highlights from the NRCC's $2,058,446.82 spread across 36 races in 24 states:

* $188,739.30 went to the district held by Rep. Charles Taylor in North Carolina, on ads targeting former quarterback Heath Shuler, who has consistently been leading in polls. This was the NRCC's largest expenditure of the day in any single race.

* $126,899.70 to defend Sweeney, suggesting some worry about the new allegations.

* First-time expenditure of $26,728.32 in Kansas on behalf of Rep. Jim Ryun, suggesting that Dems might suddenly have a chance at the seat. Charlie Cook recently changed the rating of the race from "Likely Republican" to "Toss-Up."

* First-time expenditure of $93,090.05 on the open seat of Rep. Tom Osborne, which may hint at GOP worries over the Club For Growth-backed candidate Adrian Smith against Dem Scott Kleeb.