Representative Harry Bhandari Contact information

Harry Bhandari, born on 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.

Early Life and Education: Bhandari was born in Thapathana, Nepal, on October 1, 1977, to father Ammar Bahadur and mother Kanti Kumari. He graduated from Prithvi Narayan Campus, earned his master’s in English literature from Tribhuvan University, and later attended the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Johns Hopkins University, where he received his Doctor of Philosophy in 2021. Bhandari moved to the United States in 2005 to present a paper at George Mason University, and became a U.S. citizen in 2011.

Career: Bhandari became a teacher for Baltimore County Public Schools in 2006 and later taught at Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School, and worked a faculty member for Baltimore City Community College. He briefly returned to Nepal following the April 2015 Nepal earthquake to assist earthquake victims. Bhandari first entered politics in 2008 as a volunteer for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. 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.

Maryland House of Delegates: Bhandari unsuccessfully ran for the Maryland House of Delegates in 2014. 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 and defeated incumbent Republican state delegate Joe Cluster in the general election. Bhandari was sworn in on copies of Bhagavad Gita and Vedas 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.