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Groups known as "Super PACs" raised more than $42 million to back Republican US presidential contenders in 2011, according to campaign filings that show how new donation rules are allowing a relatively few wealthy people to shape the race. The reports filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) late on Tuesday offer a vivid picture of the impact of a 2010 US Supreme Court decision that allows unlimited donations to political action committees (PACs), groups that are legally separate from the candidates they support. The reports showed why the Super PAC supporting Republican front-runner Mitt Romney, called Restore Our Future, has been such a force in the campaign - largely by running attack ads against Newt Gingrich, Romney's top Republican rival. Restore Our Future hauled in $30 million in 2011, and had nearly $24 million in the bank at the end of the year. The group spent a big chunk of that during the past month in Florida, where its ad barrage against Gingrich was widely credited with helping Romney to victory in Tuesday's primary. Florida was the latest contest in the state-by-state battle to pick a Republican nominee to challenge Democratic President Barack Obama in the Nov 6 election. The pro-Romney group's bankroll dwarfed the PACs supporting other Republican contenders, as well as the group that backs Obama. Priorities USA, the pro-Obama group, raised $4.2 million last year and had $1.5 million in the bank on Dec 31. | 
