Utah House of Representatives District 44 candidate surveys, 2022
This article shows responses from candidates in the 2022 election for Utah House of Representatives District 44 who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.
- Click here to see candidates and election results.
- Click here to see Candidate Connection survey responses.
Candidates and election results
General election
General election for Utah House of Representatives District 44
Incumbent Jordan Teuscher defeated Dee Grey in the general election for Utah House of Representatives District 44 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Jordan Teuscher (R) | 64.9 | 10,745 |
 | Dee Grey (D)  | 35.1 | 5,823 | |
| Total votes: 16,568 | |||
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Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses
Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
Survey responses from candidates in this race
Click on a candidate's name to visit their Ballotpedia page.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
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Dee Grey (D)
Our economy is not working for everyone. Solutions to this will are complex, but the first step is recognizing we can fix it, and voting for candidates that will do so. We need better measurements for livability in our city. To mee the new challenges of our city, from climate change, to housing costs, we must start understanding that our current behaviors and experiences will have to change. But I believe that we have the desire, and will, to create a strong community to weather these changes. From denser housing and shared responsibility for housing-vulnerable to moving authority back down to local cities and municipalities. The people that can solve the problem best are closest to it.
Accountability for our culture is ours. We have a representative government. The issues we experience, we have the authority and responsibility to fix them. Through individual and through community actions. But change starts with accountability.We must hold politicians accountable for poor behavior. From last minute bills, to overriding multiple ballot initiatives, our legislators don’t believe they are accountable to us. It’s our responsibility to make them accountable. Even if it means voting against your party, bad behavior is bad behavior. And i hope that if i do the same, that my constituents will hold me accountable and not excuse my behavior because all politicians lie. This will start with increased transparency and engagement.
Dee Grey (D)
But overall. My biggest focus is the kindness of helping our community see that we can solve these problems.
We can fix this. We have the money. We need the political will to solve these problems. We can attract quality teachers through pay our teachers and support. Improving the experiences our kids have in public education will bring them the critical thinking they need to weather their mental health crises. This is where our focus should be, not on book bans, and culture wars. Utahns have problems that affect them every day that we can solve. Let’s start letting ourselves do so. That starts by understanding that we cannot religiously vote for a party without that party becoming our religion. Learn more about me, my values, and how I want to share accountability and responsibility to our constituents.
Dee Grey (D)
Given that, my mother is the person I look up to the most, and the example I want to follow. My mother was nice. She laughed. She made others laugh. She ensured that people felt loved in every space she entered. She sang. I will never forget how she sang. It's one of the things she can still do. She has Alzheimer's now, and finds it hard to do most things. My parents are stuck in the middle of the Medicare expansion gap that requires that they are either destitute to get any help, but not enough, or they make enough to get by, but not nearly enough to cover her medical costs.
And she still laughs. She still sings. People have called her Happy Hilda since I can remember. Knowing how scary that the experience is, my heart constantly breaks for her. Knowing that she will never actually know who I am, breaks my heart. Know that the best parts of her are the parts I love about myself the most. Compassion, self-sacrifice, and passion for what you believe in. But I love the music she put in me. The songs I sing to my kids, the song my heart sings when I know my kids feel as loved as my mom made me feel.
And she worked, hard. She was a woman of her time. She often had 2 or 3 jobs to help supplement our income. We never went hungry, but we were known to enjoy some expired food from time to time. But she always made sure to bring a little bit of joy to our lives, even if it cost a little bit, and even if that created tension in her marriage. She knew the value of joy in life.
I want to create a world where my mom simply had more options. I can't imagine the opportunities she could have created had she had the support she needed.
Dee Grey (D)
On Leadership
Agile Management 3.0 by Lyssa Adkins The Speed of Trust by Franklin R. Covey Radical Candor by Kim Scott
On Criminal Justice
Just Culture by Sydney Dekkar
Dee Grey (D)
I know a lot of people would argue that politicians can't be those things. To those people, I say I completely agree. We have lost faith in our politicians. But I believe this can change. I believe we have the responsibility to change it.
We were granted a sacred responsibility to vote, to be informed, and to create the very world we see around us. We created a constitutional democratic republic for the sole purpose of showing that all men ARE created equal, and here is how we want to structure a government to represent that self-evident truth.
We were given the awesome responsibility of creating our country. Not just living in it. Building it. Together. But that starts by looking in the mirror when we see problems in politics. If we don't like the way our politicians behave, stop voting for the same politicians. People will not change unless they are held accountable for their actions. They can't be held accountable if they always get elected no matter what. I don't think anyone wants an unaccountable political party. Especially one with a super-majority.
Start believing in your politicians again, by giving them the kindness of the feedback they deserve. I would want nothing less.
Dee Grey (D)
Dee Grey (D)
1. To represent their constituents by voting in a way that represents the best opportunities for their district, regardless of personal belief. I believe that requires following evidence-based practices, using data, and making informed decisions.
2. To collaborate with their constituents to build greater understanding. While it is my job to represent, it is also my job to educate, to communicate, and to build understanding with my constituents.
Dee Grey (D)
I want Utahns to be proud of our representatives, by feeling accountable and responsible for those representatives. I want Utahns to expect transparency, not corruption. I want Utahns to expect honest politicians, and to have the tools to create accountability for representatives that behave poorly.
Finally, I want Utahns to never feel like they don't have a voice somewhere in the legislature.
Dee Grey (D)
But it does remind me that I felt alone in wondering what it meant. I recall not feeling like I knew if I could trust some of the elders in my life to explain it to me. Because I had already experienced some of the cultural racism in my familial and social circles. Despite being only 13, I had been warned about having Black girlfriends multiple times, often referencing possible future children, despite not even have hitting puberty.
I recently learned how feelings aren't bad, but being alone in those feelings are. I felt alone, because I knew I had a closer experience with some Black people, and recognized that their experience of, and contribution to, the world is different than the way that the social circles around me often described those people.
It was this that sent me on a journey to really align my world to the values that were taught to me, that rung out to me, and that helped me lift the world up. And let go of the ones that didn't.
Dee Grey (D)
But I would say that my first real job was working at the "Dairy Queen / Orange Julius" at the Fashion Place Mall. My shift manager was named Moose. I loved the job. I worked with my late best friend, Spencer. For a food service job, it was one of the better options. No grease outside of one of those hot-dog rollers. Plenty of friendly co-workers and other food-court workers. I ended up working at the Gamestop in that same mall for a number of years as well.
I wanted to become a manager, but was too young at the time. I always loved picking up more responsibility. But more than that, I always loved helping people feel confident in the work that they were doing. Even at 15, helping people find pride in the work they do and why they do it has driven me through multiple management opportunities.
Dee Grey (D)
Dee Grey (D)
Dee Grey (D)
Dee Grey (D)
The struggle I have dealt with in my life is being alone in creating my story. As a non-binary person that was assigned male at birth, I never felt like I belonged in all of the stories around me. I felt queer, but I wasn't into boys. I was into girls, but I never felt like I belonged "with the boys". So as others are learning who they are through the stories around them, from their friends, to their media, I was trying to understand all of it. I needed to better understand how everyone worked together, because I couldn't figure out where I necessarily fit in.
When I discovered the non-binary gender identity, it didn't immediately grab me. But as I heard the stories, I finally was hearing stories about me. I felt more connected to this group of people that were singing my songs. When I found that multiple indigenous cultures had third and other non-binary gender stories, I felt more connected to the earth and our history.
When we have more stories, we feel more connected, not less. I want to help everyone tell the stories that help them feel connected to their community, their history, and our earth.
Dee Grey (D)
See also
More about these elections:
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