Harry Bhandari | |
---|---|
ह्यारी भण्डारी | |
Member of the
Maryland House of Delegates from the 8th district | |
Assumed office January 9, 2019 Serving with
Nick Allen,
Carl W. Jackson | |
Preceded by | Joe Cluster |
Personal details | |
Born | Thapathana, Nepal | October 1, 1977
Citizenship | Nepal United States (since 2011) |
Political party | Democratic |
Children | 2 |
Education |
Prithvi Narayan Campus Tribhuvan University ( MA) Johns Hopkins University ( PhD) |
Website | Campaign website |
Harry Bhandari ( Nepali: ह्यारी भण्डारी; born October 1, 1977) is a Nepalese-born American politician and educator. A member of the Democratic Party, he has served as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from the eighth district since 2019. Bhandari is the first Nepali American elected to a state legislature in the United States. [1]
Bhandari is a candidate for Maryland's 2nd congressional district in the 2024 election.
Bhandari was born in Thapathana, Nepal, [2] on October 1, 1977, [3] to father Ammar Bahadur and mother Kanti Kumari. [2] He graduated from Prithvi Narayan Campus, earned his master's in English literature from Tribhuvan University, [4] and later attended the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Johns Hopkins University, [5] where he received his Doctor of Philosophy in 2021. [4]
Bhandari moved to the United States in 2005 to present a paper at George Mason University, [6] and became a U.S. citizen in 2011. [2]
Bhandari became a teacher for Baltimore County Public Schools in 2006 [7] and later taught at Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School, [8] and worked a faculty member for Baltimore City Community College. [5] He briefly returned to Nepal following the April 2015 Nepal earthquake to assist earthquake victims. [6]
Bhandari first entered politics in 2008 as a volunteer for Barack Obama's presidential campaign. [6] He later served as the secretary of the Young Democrats of America's minority caucus and on the board of directors for the District 6 Democratic and Civic Association Club. [5]
Bhandari unsuccessfully ran for the Maryland House of Delegates in 2014. [9] He won election to the Maryland House of Delegates in 2018, during which he ran on a slate with Carl W. Jackson and incumbent state delegate Eric Bromwell [9] and defeated incumbent Republican state delegate Joe Cluster in the general election. [10] [11]
Bhandari was sworn in on copies of Bhagavad Gita and Vedas [12] on January 9, 2019, and has served as a member of the Health and Government Operations Committee during his entire tenure. He has also chaired the Maryland Legislative Asian-American and Pacific-Islander Caucus since 2023. [3]
During the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, Bhandari ran to serve as a delegate for Joe Biden at the 2020 Democratic National Convention. [13] He again applied to run as a delegate to the 2024 Democratic National Convention, pledged to Biden, but was denied by the Maryland Democratic Party. [14]
In January 2024, ahead of U.S. Representative Dutch Ruppersberger announcing that he would not run for re-election in 2024, Bhandari filed to run for Maryland's 2nd congressional district in the 2024 election. [15] He officially announced his campaign on January 29. [8] During the Democratic primary, Bhandari ran on a platform including healthcare and education. [16]
During the 2023 legislative session, Bhandari introduced legislation requiring high schools to teach conflict resolution classes. The bill did not pass out of committee. [7]
During the 2023 legislative session, Bhandari introduced legislation to encourage schools to install solar arrays in school construction projects. [17]
During the 2020 legislative session, Bhandari voted against a bill requiring background checks for shotgun and rifle sales. [18]
In June 2021, following the fatal shooting of Nepali student Sagar Ghimire in Woodlawn, Bhandari promised to introduce legislation to strengthen the state's gun control laws during the 2022 legislative session. [19] That year, he introduced the Sagar Ghimire Act to reassess Maryland's extreme risk gun law. [20]
During his 2024 congressional campaign, Bhandari supported federal legislation to ban assault weapon sales. [21]
During his 2024 congressional campaign, Bhandari supported a ceasefire in the Israel–Hamas war, comparing it to the Nepalese Civil War. [21]
During the 2019 legislative session, Bhandari supported a bill to establish the Prescription Drug Affordability Board to negotiate the price of prescription drugs in Maryland. [22]
During his 2024 congressional campaign, Bhandari endorsed the Medicare for All Act. [21] He also introduced bills to create a task force on reducing emergency department wait times during that year's legislative session. [16]
In May 2021, Bhandari called on Congress to pass the For the People Act. [23]
During the 2023 legislative session, Bhandari introduced legislation that would make the state recognize Dashain as a commemorative day. The bill passed and was signed into law by Governor Wes Moore, making Maryland the first U.S. state to recognize the festival. [24]
In 2024, Bhandari introduced a bill that would require movie theaters to have limited screenings of movies with closed captioning and subtitle options. [16]
Bhandari is married and has two children. [5] He lives in Nottingham, Maryland. [9] In September 2018, following the fatal shooting of Brindra Giri in Towson, Maryland, Bhandari helped Giri's family with funeral arrangements and with translating from Nepali to English. [25]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Eric Bromwell (incumbent) | 5,601 | 22.8 | |
Democratic | Renee Smith | 4,632 | 18.9 | |
Democratic | Bill Paulshock | 4,512 | 18.4 | |
Democratic | Harry Bhandari | 3,828 | 15.6 | |
Democratic | Debbie Schillinger | 3,124 | 12.7 | |
Democratic | Steve Verch | 1,752 | 7.1 | |
Democratic | Kyle Williams | 1,114 | 4.5 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Eric Bromwell (incumbent) | 6,595 | 31.2 | |
Democratic | Harry Bhandari | 5,941 | 28.1 | |
Democratic | Carl W. Jackson | 5,246 | 24.8 | |
Democratic | Joe Werner | 3,335 | 15.8 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Eric Bromwell (incumbent) | 22,485 | 18.0 | |
Democratic | Harry Bhandari | 22,094 | 17.7 | |
Republican | Joseph C. Boteler III | 20,802 | 16.7 | |
Democratic | Carl Jackson | 20,232 | 16.2 | |
Republican | Joe Cluster (incumbent) | 20,084 | 16.1 | |
Republican | Joe Norman | 18,898 | 15.2 | |
Write-in | 99 | 0.1 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Harry Bhandari (incumbent) | 19,702 | 21.62 | |
Democratic | Carl W. Jackson (incumbent) | 18,950 | 20.79 | |
Democratic | Nick Allen | 18,062 | 19.82 | |
Republican | Kathleen A. Smero | 11,838 | 12.99 | |
Republican | Timothy M. Neubauer | 11,259 | 12.36 | |
Republican | Glen Geelhaar | 11,243 | 12.34 | |
Write-in | 74 | 0.08 |