Francisco J. "Frank" Sciaraffa (born 1972), the departing commissioner, had been returned to the body in a special election held on November 4, 2014, in conjunction with the regular general elections held across Texas and the nation. He succeeded Linda Ramirez, an interim appointee who had been selected by presiding Judge David Peeples, a Republican member of the Texas 4th Administrative Judicial Region, a 22-county area in and around San Antonio. Sciaraffa invited Anna Laura Cavazos Ramirez, the former county attorney, to become his administrative aide.