Producer drowns while filming political ad in Montana

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Authorities say a film producer from Massachusetts accidentally drowned while scuba diving in a Montana lake during a video shoot for a prospective U.S. Senate candidate.

Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton says prospective candidate John Mues tried unsuccessfully to help 40-year-old Jesse Hubbell before Hubbell went under Monday in the lake near Helena.

Dutton says the men were filming an ad for Mues. Divers searched Canyon Ferry Lake for two days before finding Hubbell’s body.

The sheriff says the death has been ruled an accident and investigators are still looking into the cause, including whether it was an equipment malfunction or hypothermia.

Mues was treated and released at a hospital after trying to help Hubbell.

Mues is considering running against Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines next year.