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Peter Dennis is jumping into the race for one of three Maryland House of Delegates seats — literally.

The avid skydiver introduced himself as a candidate for District 16 in a video filmed while skydiving.

"It wasn't exactly the most graceful landing," Dennis said.

Using a green-screen studio he built in his house in Potomac, Dennis hopes to set himself apart from the other 15 candidates bidding for one of three delegate seats by launching a viral marketing campaign.

There are 13 Democrats and three Republicans running in the September primary. The district includes Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Potomac.

Dennis will publish a series of videos on his website to directly address his viewpoints.

"That was always one of my problems with the way politics and political campaigns are run," Dennis said. "Everything is very vague."

Because the environment is one of his top campaign issues, Dennis flew to a beach that has been affected by the BP oil leak to film a video calling for permanent ban on offshore oil drilling in the Chesapeake Bay.

Dennis has since removed the issue from his campaign platform. A ban on drilling in the Chesapeake Bay is already in place.

Maintaining funding for education is a key issue for Dennis, who graduated from Winston Churchill High School before going to Boston College to study history. After graduating from law school at the Catholic University of America, he passed the bar exam in New Jersey.

"We need to make cuts to funding elsewhere in the budget," Dennis said. "Funding for education should be the state's top priority."

He said he hopes to continue the work that the Thornton Plan, implemented by the Maryland General Assembly in 2002, did to balance educational funding between wealthier and poorer areas.

Dennis is also an advocate for changing the law to allow same-sex couples the right to marry in Maryland, not just recognizing out-of-state gay marriages.

"I want to change that law. Amend it so we recognize gay marriage in the state of Maryland, period, no questions asked," he said.

Dennis volunteered on U.S. Rep. Christopher Van Hollen Jr.'s (D-Dist. 8) campaign for Congress and later worked as a legislative correspondent for Van Hollen on Capitol Hill, where he was responsible for reading and responding to more than 500 letters a day.

-Residence: Potomac

-Age: 29

-Party: Democrat

-Education: B.A. in history from Boston College, J.D. and a certificate in public policy from the Catholic University of

America

-Work experience: Launching a Web-based business

-Family: Single

-Top three issues: Education, marriage equality, the environment

-Campaign funds: $2,000

-Previous political experience: Volunteered on several political campaigns

-Other affiliations: Boy Scouts of America, Eagle Scout

-Website: peterdennis.net