# Harry Bhandari

Harry Bhandari is a Democratic member of the Maryland House for district 8.

- Party: Democrat
- Seat: Maryland House, district 8
- Serving since: 2019-01-09
- Current term: MD 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/14830b25-7188-44be-836f-2d3d0324dec1

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/14830b25-7188-44be-836f-2d3d0324dec1 (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

85% of the 144 bills Bhandari sponsored got out of committee, in the top 5% of the Maryland House.

## What Bhandari says (MD 2025–26 session)

155 classified statements: 155 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State House Democrats average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | Bhandari | State House Democrats average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 0.0% | 2.5% | 584 of 764 |
| Policy criticism | 7.1% | 10.4% | 409 of 764 |
| Policy discussion | 41.9% | 39.2% | 353 of 764 |
| Bipartisanship | 5.8% | 2.9% | 122 of 764 |
| Credit claiming | 33.6% | 14.4% | 58 of 764 |
| Extreme labels | 0.0% | 1.0% | 543 of 764 |

Most discussed policy areas: Health 43% (State House Democrats 15%); Government Operations and Politics 20% (State House Democrats 15%); Education 15% (State House Democrats 15%); Economics and Public Finance 12% (State House Democrats 11%); Housing and Community Development 11% (State House Democrats 6.2%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score −0.34 (standard error 0.01), from 1,397 donors and 1,181 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 88% of State House Democrats score lower.

## Votes (MD 2025–26 session)

2,779 roll calls. Attendance 99.7% (Maryland House 94.3%). Party unity 99.8% (97.0%). 2 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-08-04 · voted yea · On Third Reading (Emerg) · HB 2101 Arbitration Reform for State Employees Act of 2026 - Withdraw and Repeal of Duplicate Proposed Constitutional Amendment · pass · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2101/
- 2026-08-04 · voted yea · On Third Reading (Const) · HB 2100 Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress · pass · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2100/
- 2026-08-03 · voted nay · FLA Del. Grammer /423321/1 · HB 2100 Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress · fail · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2100/
- 2026-08-03 · voted yea · Motion to Suspend Rules from 1st to 2nd Rdg (Emerg) · HB 2101 Arbitration Reform for State Employees Act of 2026 - Withdraw and Repeal of Duplicate Proposed Constitutional Amendment · pass · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2101/
- 2026-08-03 · voted yea · Committee Amendments · HB 2100 Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress · pass · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2100/
- 2026-08-03 · voted yea · FLA Del. Miller /863422/1 Ruled Out of Order Decision of the Chair · HB 2101 Arbitration Reform for State Employees Act of 2026 - Withdraw and Repeal of Duplicate Proposed Constitutional Amendment · pass · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2101/
- 2026-08-03 · voted yea · FLA Del. Schmidt /413029/1 Ruled out of order Decision of the Chair · HB 2100 Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress · pass · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2100/
- 2026-08-03 · voted nay · FLA Del. Buckel /403926/1 · HB 2100 Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress · fail · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2100/
- 2026-08-03 · voted nay · FLA Del. Szeliga /633228/1 · HB 2100 Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress · fail · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2100/
- 2026-08-03 · voted nay · FLA Del. Long, R. /183623/1 · HB 2100 Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress · fail · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2100/

## Legislation (MD 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 144 bills: 144 reached committee, 123 passed one chamber, 95 passed both, 92 became law. Cosponsored 0. 85.4% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Maryland House 49.4%; rank 3 of 140).

Recent sponsored bills:

- HB 1615: Cooperative Housing Corporations and Condominiums - Emergency Use of Reserve Funds (in committee, 2026-02-19) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB1615/
- HB 1563: Emergency Room Services and Post-Acute Care - Coverage and Facility Studies (became law, 2026-04-28) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB1563/
- HB 1528: Education - Homeschool Students - Extracurricular Activities (in committee, 2026-02-16) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB1528/
- HB 1492: Collective Bargaining - Public Employees - Revocation of Certification and School and Library Employees' Right to Strike (in committee, 2026-03-11) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB1492/
- HB 1479: Labor and Employment - Minimum Wage - Increase (Maryland Raise the Wage Act) (in committee, 2026-04-02) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB1479/
- HB 1541: Workgroup to Study Extreme Risk Protective Orders (Sagar Ghimire Act) (in committee, 2026-03-12) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB1541/
- HB 1409: Gaming - Problem Gambling - Prevalence Study and Fund Revenue (in committee, 2026-02-16) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB1409/
- HB 1543: Labor and Employment - Temporary Workers (in committee, 2026-02-20) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB1543/
- HB 1351: Home Improvement Contractors - Disaster Mitigation Services and Fraudulent Insurance Acts - Regulation and Prohibition (passed one chamber, 2026-03-23) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB1351/
- HB 1269: Common Ownership Communities - Reserve Accounts and Reserve Studies - Alterations (in committee, 2026-03-03) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB1269/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $61.8K (State House Democrats median $40.4K). 79% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Recent statements

Newest first. Posts on X are listed by date and link only.

- 2026-04-03 · Post on X · https://x.com/harry4maryland bhandarihb/status/2040121605037195736
- 2026-03-29 · Post on X · https://x.com/harry4maryland bhandarihb/status/2038246575491719234
- 2026-03-26 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion, credit claiming · https://x.com/harry4maryland bhandarihb/status/2037179934234275917
- 2026-03-25 · Post on X · https://x.com/harry4maryland bhandarihb/status/2036885419321655650
- 2026-03-14 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion, credit claiming · https://x.com/harry4maryland bhandarihb/status/2032785348187545751
- 2026-03-14 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion, bipartisanship, credit claiming · https://x.com/harry4maryland bhandarihb/status/2032823617315102941
- 2026-03-10 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/harry4maryland bhandarihb/status/2031385098239533452
- 2026-03-09 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/harry4maryland bhandarihb/status/2031033901888540896
- 2026-03-03 · Post on X · https://x.com/harry4maryland bhandarihb/status/2028647745607672057
- 2026-03-02 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion, credit claiming · https://x.com/harry4maryland bhandarihb/status/2028530529830600960

## Links

- Official site: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Members/Details/bhandari01
- Campaign site: https://delegatebhandari.com/ https://harryformaryland.com/
- X: https://x.com/harry4maryland
- X: https://x.com/bhandarihb
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StateDelegateBhandari/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harrybhandari_official/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClO47kZiPgNdvpaKSnaBq2A
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harry-bhandari-phd-06796972/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/14830b25-7188-44be-836f-2d3d0324dec1