ALBANY — Alarmed by a “worrisome” rise in mysterious front groups that sway debate in Albany, a leading government-reform group yesterday called for greater disclosure of spending on influential TV ad campaigns.

Common Cause-New York slapped numerous “grass-roots” organizations with failing grades for disclosure in a first-of-its-kind analysis of exploding ad spending.

The often innocuously named groups, such as the teacher-funded Alliance for Quality Education and the business-backed Committee to Save New York, spent $18.2 million statewide last year on political ads, the analysis found, compared with just $2.2 million two years earlier.

Common Cause Executive Director Susan Lerner said a vast majority of those ads obscured or downplayed their source and left New Yorkers with little clue who was really trying to influence policy.