Harry Bhandari

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 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,^[5] and became a U.S. citizen in 2011.^[2]

Bhandari became a teacher for Baltimore County Public Schools in 2006^[6] and later taught at Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School,^[7] and worked a faculty member for Baltimore City Community College.^[8] He briefly returned to Nepal following the April 2015 Nepal earthquake to assist earthquake victims.^[5]

Bhandari first entered politics in 2008 as a volunteer for Barack Obama's presidential campaign.^[5] 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.^[8]

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.^[7] During the Democratic primary, Bhandari ran on a platform including healthcare and education.^[16] He was defeated in the Democratic primary election, placing second behind Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski with 8.5 percent of the vote.^[17]

During the 2023 legislative session, Bhandari introduced legislation requiring high schools to teach conflict resolution classes. The bill did not pass out of committee.^[6]

During the 2023 legislative session, Bhandari introduced legislation to encourage schools to install solar arrays in school construction projects.^[18]

During the 2020 legislative session, Bhandari voted against a bill requiring background checks for shotgun and rifle sales.^[19]

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.^[20] That year, he introduced the Sagar Ghimire Act to reassess Maryland's extreme risk gun law.^[21]

During his 2024 congressional campaign, Bhandari supported federal legislation to ban assault weapon sales.^[22]

During his 2024 congressional campaign, Bhandari supported a ceasefire in the Israel–Hamas war, comparing it to the Nepalese Civil War.^[22]

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.^[23]

During his 2024 congressional campaign, Bhandari endorsed the Medicare for All Act.^[22] 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.^[24]

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.^[25]

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.^[8] 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.^[26]

• "Members - Delegate Harry Bhandari". mgaleg.maryland.gov. Retrieved November 12, 2023.