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$47.5 million can't buy these candidates love (at least so far)

The campaigns and allies for three establishment GOP presidential candidates have spent a combined $47.5 million in TV ads in the 2016 race so far.
Eight-month-old Mary Elizabeth Parsons is wheeled into a campaign \"meet and greet\" for U.S. Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush at Wholly Smokin BBQ, Florence, S.C., Nov. 17, 2015. (Photo by Randall Hill/Reuters)
Eight-month-old Mary Elizabeth Parsons is wheeled into a campaign \"meet and greet\" for U.S. Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush at Wholly Smokin BBQ, Florence, S.C., Nov. 17, 2015.
By Mark Murray, Mark Murray

The campaigns and allies for three Republican establishment presidential candidates -- Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and John Kasich -- have spent a combined $47.5 million in TV ads in the 2016 race so far, according to ad-spending data from NBC News partner SMG Delta.

By contrast, the campaigns and allies for the three Republicans who have been leading or surging in the most recent polls -- Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Ted Cruz -- have spent just $2.9 million.

Money spent on 2016 GOP campaigns on TV ads to date. (NBC/SMG Delta)

That's a 16-to-1 advantage that these establishment candidates have over their outsider rivals. (And it's more than 18-to-1 when you add another establishment Republican, Chris Christie, into the mix.)

But that ad-spending edge hasn't translated in the polls.

The biggest spender in TV ads has been Bush, whose Right to Rise Super PAC has spent more than $28 million, while his campaign has chipped in an additional $460,000. Bush, however, has been stuck in single digit in national and early-state polls.

WATCH: A history of outsiders: From Cain to Trump

The second-biggest spender has been Rubio - with his campaign and the outside groups backing him having shelled out $10.6 million. Unlike Bush, though, Rubio is in double digits in most polling.

Hillary Clinton, at nearly $10 million, is the third-largest advertiser in the 2016 race, and she is leading the Democratic presidential race.

TV ad spending so far (through this week)

  • Team Bush: $28.9 million ($28.4M from Right to Rise Super PAC, $460K from campaign)
  • Team Rubio: $10.6 million ($8.5M from Conservative Solutions 501c4, $640K from Conservative Solutions Super PAC, $1.5M from campaign)
  • Team Clinton: $9.7 million ($9.5 million from campaign, $200K from Priorities USA Super PAC)
  • Team Kasich: $8 million (all from two outside groups)
  • Team Christie: $6.4 million ($6M from America Leads Super PAC, $400K from campaign)
  • Team Sanders: $4.9 million (all from campaign)
  • Team Carson: $2 million ($1.9M from campaign, $73K from 2016 Committee outside group)
  • Team Paul: $869,000 ($743K from America's Liberty Super PAC, $125K from campaign)
  • Team Cruz: $665,000 ($462K from campaign, rest from Super PACs)
  • Team Trump: $217,000 (all from campaign)

SOURCE: NBC/SMG Delta

This article originally appeared on NBCNews.com.