Kerry repays $6.4m loan to campaign

John F. Kerry, taking advantage of unprecedented fund-raising, has paid himself back for a $6.4 million loan he made to his campaign in December, a spokesman said yesterday.

The Massachusetts senator also confirmed that he will accept federal financing for his general-election campaign, which will trigger the delivery of a $75 million check from the US Treasury on July 30 and put an end to his private fund-raising, said his campaign spokesman, Michael Meehan.

In addition, Meehan said, Kerry plans to disburse any remaining money in his existing presidential campaign account -- perhaps more than $25 million -- to the Democratic National Committee and possibly state Democratic committees, as the Globe reported earlier this week.

Federal law requires candidates who take federal election funds to stop their private fund-raising. It also permits them to disburse any money remaining in the accounts that they used to finance their primary campaigns.

All told, Kerry has raised more than $203 million since becoming a presidential candidate in December 2002. That includes $175 million this year, $99 million in the second quarter -- a record for any presidential candidate -- and some $68 million online.

Meehan said that track record justified Kerry repaying himself, even as the candidate continued to ask for private contributions this month. The campaign raised $18 million from July 1 through July 20. It also reported $36 million cash on hand as of June 30, although the campaign subsequently bought $14 million in advertising for the month.

''At a critical juncture in our campaign, John Kerry lent his campaign money that helped us to go on to win the Iowa caucuses, New Hampshire primary, and the Democratic presidential nomination," Meehan said. ''We've broken every single record for a challenger and for a quarter, and because of that, we're able to even up the books now." He said the loan was repaid this week.

The collateral for the loan was Kerry's half-interest in the Beacon Hill townhouse he shares with his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry. That triggered criticism from Republicans who questioned how a senator with a $158,100 annual salary could service such a loan. Kerry aides would say only that the senator had sufficient means to both qualify for and repay the loan.

Glen Johnson can be reached at johnson@globe.com.