Sen. Ted Cruz’s allies for months have questioned why his friendly super PACs appeared to be stockpiling their cash, running few television ads while his presidential rivals dominated the airwaves.

Now, with the Texan surging in polls, that approach seems to have left him in a strong position…

The pro-Cruz groups’ strategy is in sharp contrast with that of many of Mr. Cruz’s GOP primary competitors. The super PAC backing former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has spent nearly half of the $103 million it raised in the first half of the year, including $30 million on a TV ad blitz—the biggest investment by a single entity on the 2016 race. Mr. Bush remains stalled in the polls, notching just 7% support among Republicans in the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll…

“The conventional model of super PACs is to collect check after check and then run ad after ad,” said Kellyanne Conway, who heads Keep the Promise I, a pro-Cruz super PAC. “We didn’t see that as the best way.”