In a town built on connections, the surge in interest is a turnaround for Republicans, who in the first year of the Obama administration had difficulty finding top-tier political jobs in the private sector and were considered something akin to political exiles.

With polls indicating a strong showing for Republicans in November, “it’s made Republicans more relevant,” said Drew Maloney, the chief executive of Ogilvy Government Relations, a top Washington lobbying shop.

If Republicans succeed in regaining control of the House and perhaps even the Senate, firms seeking influence over federal policies are looking to gain an edge by tacking toward the right. That will become particularly important, they say, if Republicans try to roll back some of the major initiatives in health care, business regulation and other areas that Democrats have pushed through Congress in the last year.

Renewed battles over big-ticket legislation would also be likely to mean a financial windfall for lobbyists and political consultants, who have proved largely immune to the country’s economic problems. With major legislative debates in Washington, revenue for more than 13,000 lobbyists rose more than 5 percent last year, to $3.5 billion, and continued to climb through the first half of this year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group.

JPMorgan Chase, among at least a dozen recent hires, brought in Mel Martinez, the former Republican senator from Florida, as a senior executive. Robert L. Wilkie, a top Pentagon official in the administration of President George W. Bush, was hired by CH2M Hill, a construction and design firm, as a vice president overseeing military projects. And Research In Motion, which makes the BlackBerry, hired Jason C. Scism, a top Republican aide to Representative Darrell Issa of California, into an executive spot that was last held by a Democrat.