A crowd was on hand in downtown Helena Thursday evening, to hear from two former Montana governors and one former U.S. senator.Gov. Steve Bullock, Gov. Marc Racicot and Sen. Jon Tester held a community conversation at Brothers T apworks the business Bullock opened with his own brother after leaving office in 2021. The event was organized by a group called Project Paperclip.(Watch the video to hear more from Thursday's event.) Tester, Racicot, Bullock hold "community conversation" in HelenaThe doors were closed around 5:40 p.m., well before the start of the event, as the room reached its maximum capacity of just under 200.At about 6:40, Tester and Scripps News contributor Maritsa Georgiou began recording a live episode of their podcast Grounded, with Bullock, Racicot and former Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney as guests. The main discussion with Tester, Bullock and Racicot began at 7:00 and lasted around 90 minutes.The main topic Thursday was the speakers and the audiences frustration with the direction of the country.I'm telling you, we're on the verge of serious disaster, we are in peril, said Racicot. I'm just so heartened to be here among all of you who have chosen to get engaged in a way that's not only vociferous, it's also quite effective. The three men were sharply critical of the Trump administration on a series of issues, including what they called risky and necessary military action in Iran, the tax cuts and tighter restrictions on programs like Medicaid included in last years One Big Bill, and Trumps criticisms of news outlets.One particular issue they highlighted was the SAVE Act, a federal bill Trump has identified as a top priority, which would require people to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote and photo ID when casting a vote. While supporters have said the legislation is needed to ensure the integrity of American elections, the speakers said Thursday that it would only create unnecessary barriers making it harder for people to vote.Tester said Montanas elections had showed conventional wisdom that higher voter turnout would benefit Democrats may not have been accurate.If the folks in power were smart, they would make it easy to vote the way it should be, when I first got in the state Legislature, working with the most conservative legislators, trying to figure out ways we can encourage people to vote by the way, with an ID, because that already exists in these states, he said. Tester and Bullock were both elected as Democrats. Racicot was twice elected governor as a Republican in the 1990s, but has been rebuked by current party leadership for his support of Democratic-backed candidates in several recent elections, including Joe Biden over Trump in 2020.Republicans have been dominant in statewide Montana elections since Testers last successful reelection in 2018. Bullock and Tester lost Senate races in 2020 and 2024, respectively, and Trump won the state with wide margins in 2016, 2020 and 2024.However, Bullock said he believes there is going to be growing dissatisfaction with the administration even here, especially as the impacts of federal changes to health care and other benefits become clearer.People are going to suffer, and it's so damn unfortunate because it's unnecessary, he said. But maybe some of that suffering is when people will say, You know what? We deserve better than this as a government. The former officials said the 2026 elections would be key in determining whether Congress will serve as a check on the Trump administration. As they took questions from the audience at the end of their discussion, Montanas U.S. Senate race became a central topic.Five Democratic candidates are running to win their partys nomination, and former University of Montana president Seth Bodnar is trying to get on the ballot as an independent candidate. Reports have suggested Tester saw an independent campaign as having a stronger chance to win in Montana. However, some Democrats have warned that Bodnar would just split the opposition vote and allow the Republican candidate to win.An audience member asked the leaders, if their goal was to defeat the Republican, if they thought either Bodnar or the Democratic nominee should drop out of the Senate race to allow the other to consolidate support.The truth is that, come August, early September, if you got no momentum, if you don't have any energy behind your campaign, you probably ain't gonna win, Tester said. If people are honest with themselves and by the way, most politicians aren't honest with themselves but if they're honest with themselves, they'll drop out. And that applies to both the Democratic nom and Bodnar.Bullock criticized Republican Sen. Steve Daines for his last-minute maneuver to drop his reelection bid and support former U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme entering the race. Bullock said a law passed during the last legislative session means write-in candidates now have to file at the same time as other candidates preventing anyone else from launching a write-in campaign to protest the switch.They took away your voice to actually have a write-in, he said. They took away Republicans voices.Bullock also responded directly to the audience members question.The most important thing to me is making sure that Montana is on the right track, being represented by the people that will actually reflect Montana and Montana's values, he said. There's a long time between now and the election, and we'll see what happens. Racicot praised Bodnar not by name, but by description for having covered all the bases with his military, private-sector and university experience.I think he'll get the signatures to qualify for the ballot, and we've seen other examples of independent candidacies being very successful, he said.Asked about the best way for people unhappy with the current administration to make their voices heard, the former officials said leading with anger wouldnt be effective. They encouraged those in attendance to look for constructive ways to get involved.It's each of you that are frustrated at times and say, I'm going to do more than yell at the TV today; I'm going to do more than feeling helpless and hopeless, said Bullock. It really does begin and end, right, with all of us. ...read more read less