Kathmandu. Three candidates of Nepali origin have been elected in the US State Legislature election. Dr. Harry Bhandari, Sarkha Shrestha and Bishwa Bahadur Shah have been elected.

All three were contesting from the Democratic Party. They won from constituencies in different states of America.

Dr. Harry Bhandari has been elected from District 8 of the state of Maryland. He has been elected to the Maryland House of Delegates for the third time. Bhandari received 22.34 percent of the total votes.

Bhandari, who was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates for the first time in 2018, is the first person of Nepali origin to be elected to a state-level lawmaker in the United States. He had won from the Democratic Party in the constituency that the Republican Party had won for 12 years at that time.

Similarly, Saraksha Shrestha has been elected for the third time from District 103 of New York State. She won by getting about 69 percent of the total votes.

Shrestha was elected to the New York State Legislature for the first time in 2022. She was elected for the second time in 2024 and is the first woman of Nepali origin to be elected to the US State Legislature.

Similarly, Biswa Bahadur Shah was also elected from District 41 of Hillsborough County. He got 20 percent of the total votes. He got 36 percent of the votes. Speaking to Setopati after being elected, Shah said that he will work on the policy making, budget and development issues at the state level.

The victory of three people of Nepali origin is seen as a sign of the growing participation and representation of the Nepali community in US politics.