WASHINGTON – The presidential campaign ad wars are nearly all-consuming, swallowing hours of television time in New Hampshire and Iowa. But few spots are placed by candidates themselves.

Instead, as of last month, about 4 in 5 ads have come from Super PACS that are allowed to take and spend unlimited amounts of money to support candidates.

As the early Republican primaries approach, the ads are allowing surrogates to take shots while the candidates keep their hands clean, critics say. The ads are also raising concerns from campaign finance watchdogs who say they allow the wealthy to have greater influence over who will go to the White House.

Instead of being limited to a $2,700 limit on giving to Sen. Ted Cruz’s campaign, for example, Staci Wilks, of Cisco, Texas, gave $10 million to Keep the Promise III, a Super PAC supporting the Texas senator.

Her husband, Daniel Wilks, former owner of a hydrofracking company, gave another $5 million, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, which studied campaign ads with academics at Wesleyan University.

Through Dec. 9, Super PACs had pushed 35,743 of 44,270 ads that had appeared in the New Hampshire/Boston area, Iowa and South Carolina, according to the researchers.

They’ve only increased since, said Robert Maguire, who investigates political nonprofits for the nonprofit center that monitors campaign finance.

The prevalence of Super PAC ads are up from four years ago, when they made up two-thirds of the ads at the same point in the election season, according to the study.

In 2011, only 1 percent of ads were created by Super PACs, but that was just after a 2010 Supreme Court decision opened doors to the spending by the committees when it found that limits on independent political expenses were violated free speech.

In some cases, it’s impossible to tell who is funding ads, such as one aired by Conservative Solutions Project that features Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio.

“What we are called upon to do now is to ensure that the American Dream just doesn’t survive, but that it reaches more people and changes more lives than ever before,” Rubio says in the spot.

The Conservative Solutions Project is a type of Super PAC classified as a 501(c)(4), an IRS designation for a tax-exempt group that promotes “social welfare.”

The ad does not specifically call for electing Rubio. Because it pushes issues such as repealing Obamacare, Conservative Solutions does not have to say how much it’s spending or where it gets its money.

The group’s spokesman, Jeff Sadosky, said its purpose is to advocate for conservative solutions to problems faced by American families.

The Conservative Solutions Project is the only 501(c)(4) Super PAC, according to the study.  

Campaign filings of groups that do disclose their funding show the large donations that the wealthy are allowed to make.

Texans are four of the top 10 contributors to Super PACs thus far, according to the watchdog group’s tally.

Kelcy Warren, co-founder of the oil pipeline company Energy Transfer Partners, gave $6 million to Opportunity and Freedom, a Super PAC that supported former Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s candidacy.

Darwin Deason, founder of Dallas-based Affiliated Computer Services, also gave $5 million to the group.

The Wesleyan report noted that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush – who’s running fifth in Iowa and sixth in New Hampshire – has gotten the most help from Super PACs.

Right to Rise, a pro-Bush Super PAC, has raised $103 million, including $3 million in individual contributions from the Miami investment firm MBF Healthcare Partners.

Rooney Holdings, a building and construction management firm in Tulsa, Oklahoma, gave $2 million.

Bush’s campaign has only raised $24.8 million.

Ten Super PACs have raised $38 million to help Cruz, while his actual campaign has raised $26 million.

Renaissance Technologies, a investment management firm on Long Island, New York, has given $11 million to the Keep the Promise I. CapRock Partners, a California real estate management firm, has given another $10 million.

In addition to the unknown amount raised by the Conservative Solutions Project, the pro-Rubio Conservative Solutions PAC has collected $16 million.

Much of that has come from a Florida luxury car dealership, Braman Motorcars; a California tech company, Oracle Corp.; and Besilu Stables in Florida.

The pro-Rubio PAC reported spending $8.6 million in all of 2015. It spent $12.6 million in the first 13 days of this year.

Cruz’s and Bush’s campaigns did not respond to inquiries about the PAC spending.

A Rubio spokeswoman referred to the senator’s previous comments that donors are drawn to his agenda, not the away around.

Donald Trump hasn’t received Super PAC help, but Maguire said he hasn’t been hurt by a lack of ads because of the air time he gets for his attention-grabbing remarks.

Among Democrats, Super PACs raised $20.2 million for Hillary Clinton as of Tuesday, but her campaign had raised $77.4 million.

Groups backing Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders had raised only $25,000, compared to his campaign’s $41 million.

Maguire expected outside spending to surpass that of the Democratic campaigns by the end of the elections.

Ads placed by Super PACS are playing a role in the negative tone of the campaign in recent days.

Super PACs for Cruz and Bush have attacked Rubio’s role in crafting an immigration proposal that provided a pathway for citizenship for illegal immigrants.

The pro-Rubio Conservative Solutions PAC called New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, against whom Rubio is seen as competing for support of the establishment wing of the party, “Obama’s favorite Republican governor.”

In comparison, Rubio talks about his Christian faith.

“It’s kind of good cop, bad cop,” said Dante Scala, a University of New Hampshire associate professor in political science.

Kery Murakami is the Washington, D.C., reporter for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach him at kmurakami@cnhi.com