May 26 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry will accept his party's nomination in July in Boston rather than delay the formal act so he could avoid federal election spending limits, his campaign announced.

Once the party convention is over July 29, Kerry's campaign will be funded with about $75 million in taxpayer money and limited to spending only that amount. With the Republican convention scheduled for Aug. 30 to Sept. 2, President George W. Bush would get a longer period to spend the money he raised during the primary season before facing the same restrictions.

``We believe it is right to start the general election on the same day as our opponents, and we will continue to explore every way possible to level the playing field against the Republicans' five-week advantage,'' Kerry said in an e-mailed statement.

The finance rules have been in place since the 1976 presidential election. As a condition of receiving federal funding for the general election campaign, candidates cannot raise or spend any additional money. The Democratic and Republican parties each may spend $16 million in a coordinated effort with their nominees during the period between the convention and the Nov. 2 vote.

Kerry, 60, a U.S. senator from Massachusetts, and Bush, 57, both have said they would accept the public money.

Options

To blunt Bush's advantage, Kerry and the Democrats may use state and national party organizations to raise money, buy advertising and conduct registration and get-out-the-vote drives during the period between the Republican and Democratic conventions.

``Kerry will need to let the Democratic National Committee take the lead during those five weeks, if at all possible, since it's crucial that he conserves cash for the final weeks of the campaign,'' said David Primo, a political science professor at the University of Rochester.

Independent political groups that support Kerry might also get involved by running voter mobilization and other efforts that would benefit the Democrat's campaign, he said.

To boost the party, Kerry may keep raising money for his campaign until the convention then turn over any surplus to the national committee, said Michael Malbin, executive director of the Campaign Finance Institute, a Washington-based nonpartisan research organization.

Fund Raising

He could then spend the next five weeks raising money for the party organization, though he could not have any control over how that money was spent, Malbin said.

``He can go right out of the convention hall and into a fundraiser,'' Malbin said. ``The same people who have been giving him $2,000 for the primary can give $25,000 to the committee.''

Kerry may also shift as many expenses as possible into his campaign legal and accounting fund, which is a separate treasury for which he can continue to solicit donations, said John C. Green, a political science professor at the University of Akron in Ohio.

Kerry's statement tonight included an appeal for funds.

``I intend to rely on the grassroots army which has already brought us so far beyond anyone's expectations,'' Kerry said. ``Together they can guarantee that average Americans can decide this election, not George Bush's Rangers and Pioneers.''

Records

Both Kerry and Bush declined to accept federal matching funds and the spending limits that accompany them during the primary season leading up to the party conventions. Instead, both candidates set records for raising and spending money. The Bush campaign took in at least $205.5 million while Kerry raised at least $120.8 million.

Kerry aides on May 21 said the candidate might not accept his nomination at the convention to delay falling under the restrictions. That led to criticism from the Bush campaign, some of Kerry's fellow Democrats and officials in his hometown of Boston.

Bush's campaign manager, Ken Mehlman, said at the time that it was ``the latest example of John Kerry's belief that the rules are for other people.''

Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, a Kerry ally who helped bring the convention to Boston, was angered by the idea because it threatened to diminish the event, the Boston Globe reported today, citing unnamed friends of Kennedy.

``It did raise some legal issues unless the party procedures were basically turned on their ear,'' said Kenneth Gross, a lawyer at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Washington who was head of enforcement at the Federal Election Commission in the 1980s. ``It would have created a cloud over the convention which would have been unfortunate.''

Kerry's decision to go accept the nomination on schedule is ``a wise move,'' said former FEC General Counsel Larry Noble, now head of the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group ``It is politically sound and legally sound to not to play around with the acceptance date and try to game the system.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan D. Salant in Washington at jsalant@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 26, 2004 19:15 EDT