Voters in the Queen Creek Unified School District will choose two of four candidates for the governing board this fall, and they can start casting ballots Wednesday, Oct. 7, when early voting begins in Arizona for the Nov. 3 general election.
Two incumbents are on the ballot. Samantha Davis, the board's president, is seeking a third term after being elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2022. Kelli Anderson, who was appointed to the board in March 2025 to replace James Knox, is running for her first full term.
Two challengers, Sarah Purcell and Michael Romero, are also running. The seats carry four-year terms, and there is no primary for school board races, according to the Queen Creek Tribune.
The incumbents
Davis is a Realtor, a nine-year board member of the Queen Creek Schools Education Foundation and a former PTO president, the Tribune reported. She told the paper she is guided by conservative values and her Christian faith. "Every decision I make as a board member is guided by what is best for students and what will help prepare them for successful futures," she said.
The Queen Creek Independent reported that the Arizona School Boards Association has shared the board norms and protocols she helped set up with other boards as an example.
Anderson, an Army veteran and former intelligence analyst, works for Turning Point Action and homeschools her children, according to both papers. She was appointed by Maricopa County School Superintendent Shelli Boggs. Her campaign site says classrooms should focus on core academics and life skills and that parents deserve a seat at the table on curriculum and policy.
"I believe our district can do better," she told the Tribune, pledging to push for transparency in how tax dollars are spent.
