Conservatives Sweep Ankeny School Board Elections

ANKENY, Iowa – Three conservatives swept all three seats on the Ankeny School Board on the ballot on Tuesday. 

Joy Burk, Trent Murphy, and Sarah Barthole were the top-three vote-getters. Gov. Kim Reynolds endorsed all three candidates, and all three raised over $10,000 for their race. Lori Lovstad, the lone incumbent on the ballot, did not win re-election.

Board member Jim Ford and Board President Aaron Johnson did not run for re-election. 

Ankeny’s mask mandate was a contentious issue within the school district. The debate over critical race theory has motivated voters in some school districts in Iowa and nationwide to go to the polls.

Here are the results below:

1. Joy Burk – 8503 (18.20 percent)
2. Trent Murphy – 8358 (17.55 percent)
3. Sarah Barthole – 8165 (17.48 percent)
4. Lori Lovstad – 7316 (15.66 percent)
5. Joy Bullock – 7282 (15.59 percent)
6. Shelly Northway – 6564 (14.05 percent)
7. Christian Holtz – 472 (1.01 percent)