Two Arizona Democrats ousted by voters in last year's congressional elections spent lavishly on their staffs in their final days and weeks in office.

Former Reps. Harry Mitchell and Ann Kirkpatrick each spent considerably more on taxpayer-funded payroll expenses in the fourth quarter of 2010 than they did on average for the first three quarters of the year, reflecting end-of-the-year bonuses or salary raises, according to LegiStorm, an independent and nonpartisan watchdog group in Washington, D.C., that monitors congressional spending on staff.

Mitchell and Kirkpatrick then spent more than $100,000 each on their staffs in their final two days in office earlier this year, more than all but two of the 93 defeated or retiring House members, LegiStorm found.