James Rappaport (born 1956) is a real estate developer, entrepreneur, attorney, philanthropist and Republican politician from Massachusetts.
James Rappaport attended the Wharton School of Business and the Boston University School of Law.
Rappaport initially became a real estate developer in Concord, which provided him with the means to self-finance his 1990 Senate campaign against Senator John Kerry. Although early polls indicated that Rappaport, a newcomer to the GOP, had a chance of defeating the senator, his campaign lost momentum by November, and he lost by a margin of 13%. Rappaport was then appointed Massachusetts Republican Party Chairman and served from 1992 to 1997. After being rumored as a possible candidae for Lieutenant Governor under then-Governor Jane Swift, Rappaport entered the Lieutenant Governor's race in 2002 but lost to Kerry Healey, who was hand-picked by Mitt Romney as his running mate.
Rappaport is involved in various civic and charitable organizations. He holds leadership roles within the Combined Jewish Philanthropies and is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and the Board of Overseers of Boston's Children's Hospital. He is the co-founder and chairman of the board of Specialty Hospitals America (SHA), LLC.