Harry Bhandari of Maryland and Sarahana Shrestha of New York won third terms, while Bishwa Bahadur Shah won his first term in New Hampshire in the November 3 U.S. midterm elections. All three ran as Democrats for seats in their state legislatures. Two other Nepali American Democrats, Satish Chapagain in Maryland and Ricky Gurung in New Hampshire, fell short. The vote totals below are preliminary. NepYork election coverage · Samaj Times election roundup
Harry Bhandari wins a third term in Maryland
Photo credit: Joe Andrucyk / Maryland GovPics, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0. Re-encoded for Odhan.
Bhandari finished second in Baltimore County’s District 8, where voters could choose up to three candidates for the Maryland House of Delegates. An unofficial tally put him at 19,530 votes, between fellow Democrats Nick Allen and Kim L. Ross. All three finished ahead of the Republican candidates. Bhandari first won the seat in 2018, becoming the first person of Nepali origin elected to a U.S. state legislature, and was reelected in 2022. Maryland District 8 returns · Samaj Times
Born in Thapathana, Nepal, Bhandari worked as a principal and English teacher in Kathmandu and went on to teach in Baltimore City Public Schools. In Annapolis, he has chaired the Maryland Legislative Asian-American and Pacific-Islander Caucus and serves on the House Economic Matters Committee. He also co-sponsored the 2023 law requiring Maryland’s governor to proclaim October 5 as Dashain Day each year. Maryland State Archives biography · Maryland’s Dashain Day law
Sarahana Shrestha wins a third term in New York
Photo credit: New York State Senate Media Services, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0. Re-encoded for Odhan.
Shrestha defeated Republican Santos Lopez in the Hudson Valley’s 103rd Assembly District. The Times Union’s preliminary tally gave her 40,114 votes to Lopez’s 17,840, or about 69 percent. First elected in 2022 and reelected in 2024, Shrestha is the first New York state legislator of Nepali origin and the first Nepali American woman elected to a U.S. state legislature. Times Union election results · NepYork
Shrestha grew up in Kathmandu and moved to the United States as a student in 2001. Before running for office, she organized in the Hudson Valley against fossil fuel projects and for public ownership of energy infrastructure. In the Assembly, she has sponsored a bill to establish a Hudson Valley Power Authority, an example of how that organizing has carried into her legislative work. New York State Assembly biography · Shrestha’s sponsored legislation
Bishwa Bahadur Shah wins his first term in New Hampshire
Photo credit: Bishwa Shah’s campaign.
Shah took the third of three New Hampshire House seats in Hillsborough County District 41, which covers Manchester wards 2, 4, 5 and 7. An unofficial tally reported by NepYork put him at 5,726 votes, behind fellow Democrats Lily M. Foss and Tom Stewart and ahead of the closest Republican, Ryan Hebert. Citizens Count results · NepYork vote tally
Shah served 15 years in the Nepali Army before moving to the United States in 2002. His campaign biography says he published the Nepali-language newspaper Nepali Khabar in New York, ran a small business with his wife and became a home care provider after moving to Manchester. He campaigned on public school funding, more affordable health care and child care, and help with down payments for young adults buying homes. Shah’s campaign biography and platform
Satish Chapagain and Ricky Gurung fall short
Photo source: The Kathmandu Post candidate profile.
In Maryland’s District 7A, Chapagain placed third in a race for two seats. Republicans Ryan Nawrocki and Kathy Szeliga led the preliminary count for both seats. Chapagain, a former journalist in Nepal and a small-business owner in Maryland, made affordability and access to public transportation part of his campaign. Maryland District 7A returns · Kathmandu Post candidate profiles · Vote411 candidate questionnaire
Odhan graphic based on the preliminary district results.
In New Hampshire, Gurung ran in Merrimack County District 10, which includes Hooksett and Dunbarton. In the preliminary tally, he received 3,734 votes and placed fifth in a four-seat race, 65 votes behind the fourth-place candidate, Democrat Germano Mendes Martins. Pre-election coverage that profiled four candidates left Gurung out, but Nepali Post identified him as a fifth candidate of Nepali origin. Nepali Post candidate coverage · Merrimack District 10 results
Photo credit: Mitra Subedi’s campaign.
The same election also brought a win for the wider Nepali-speaking diaspora. Mitra Subedi, a Bhutan-born educator who spent part of his childhood in a refugee camp in Nepal, won Kentucky House District 30 in an unopposed general election. Samaj Times · Kentucky House District 30 results
