Changes

Carnes' grandfather began to till the soil about Uvalde in 1950. Allen Carnes is the principal owner and manager of Winter Garden Produce, located on the north side of Uvalde. The company ships crops throughout the nation. Carnes farms vegetables, grain, and [[cotton]]. The Carnes family owns more than 3,500 acres of farmland. Carnes himself manages more than 1,000 acres and holds majority interest in the cotton gin.<ref name=bio/> Like the state as a whole, Winter Garden Produce has struggled in recent years with drought, a matter which particularly concerns Carnes.<ref name=tobserver>{{cite web|url=http://www.texasobserver.org/j-allen-carnes-down-on-the-farm/|title=Down on the Farm The only life-long farmer in the GOP race for Texas agriculture commissioner struggles to be heard over an ideological food-fight, December 18, 2013|publisher=''The Texas Observer''|accessdate=April 25, 2014}}</ref> He is affiliated with the South Texans' Property Rights Association, the Texas Farm Bureau Federation, and the [[Fort Worth]]-based Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association.<ref name=bio/>​

Carnes' grandfather began to till the soil about Uvalde in 1950. Allen Carnes is the principal owner and manager of Winter Garden Produce, located on the north side of Uvalde. The company ships crops throughout the nation. Carnes farms vegetables, grain, and [[cotton]]. The Carnes family owns more than 3,500 acres of farmland. Carnes himself manages more than 1,000 acres and holds majority interest in the cotton gin.<ref name=bio/> Like the state as a whole, Winter Garden Produce has struggled in recent years with drought, a matter which particularly concerns Carnes.<ref name=tobserver>{{cite web|url=http://www.texasobserver.org/j-allen-carnes-down-on-the-farm/|title=Down on the Farm The only life-long farmer in the GOP race for Texas agriculture commissioner struggles to be heard over an ideological food-fight, December 18, 2013|publisher=''The Texas Observer''|accessdate=April 25, 2014}}</ref> He is affiliated with the South Texans' Property Rights Association, the Texas Farm Bureau Federation, and the [[Fort Worth]]-based Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association.<ref name=bio/>​

Carnes and his wife, the former Brooke C. Milam (born c. 1976), have three children. He is finance chairman of the First [[United Methodist]] Church in Uvalde. He is a coach for Uvalde Youth Sports.<ref name=bio/>​

Carnes and his wife, the former Brooke C. Milam (born February 18, 1976), have three children. He is finance chairman of the First [[United Methodist]] Church in Uvalde. He is a coach for Uvalde Youth Sports.<ref name=bio/>​

'''Race for agriculture commissioner'''​

'''Race for agriculture commissioner'''​

Nevertheless, Carnes considers himself a "lifelong Republican" who as a 17-year-old volunteered in the unsuccessful 1992 campaign to reelect the late [[U.S. President]] [[George Herbert Walker Bush]]: "It killed me when he got beat by [[Bill Clinton|Clinton]], and I couldn't vote."<ref name=carnesquestionedaboutparty>{{cite web|url=http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/headlines/20140204-rivals-make-an-issue-of-gop-ag-race-hopefuls-democratic-votes-donations.ece|author=David Barer|title=Rivals make an issue of GOP ag race hopeful's Democratic votes, donations|date=January 4, 2014|publisher=''Dallas Morning News''|accessdate=April 25, 2014}}</ref> ​

Nevertheless, Carnes considers himself a "lifelong Republican" who as a 17-year-old volunteered in the unsuccessful 1992 campaign to reelect the late [[U.S. President]] [[George Herbert Walker Bush]]: "It killed me when he got beat by [[Bill Clinton|Clinton]], and I couldn't vote."<ref name=carnesquestionedaboutparty>{{cite web|url=http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/headlines/20140204-rivals-make-an-issue-of-gop-ag-race-hopefuls-democratic-votes-donations.ece|author=David Barer|title=Rivals make an issue of GOP ag race hopeful's Democratic votes, donations|date=January 4, 2014|publisher=''Dallas Morning News''|accessdate=April 25, 2014}}</ref> ​

Under Texas election law, one is automatically a "member" of the political party in whose primary and/or runoff election he participates. Only Democrats and Republicans in Texas hold primaries. He remains a "member" of that party for two years until the next regular primary or runoff. The only way he can "change" his party is to wait two years, then skip a primary and become an "unaffiliated" voter or to vote in the other party's primary and in effect "change" his partisan registration. He cannot switch from one party's primary and vote in the other party's immediate runoff election.<ref>Lyle C. Brown et al, ''Practicing Texas Politics'', 13th ed. (Houghton Mifflin, 2008), pp. 192–195.</ref>

Under Texas election law, one is automatically a "member" of the political party in whose primary and/or runoff election he participates. Only Democrats and Republicans in Texas hold primaries. He remains a "member" of that party for two years until the next regular primary or runoff. The only way he can "change" his party is to wait two years, then skip a primary and become an "unaffiliated" voter or to vote in the other party's primary and in effect "change" his partisan registration. He cannot switch from one party's primary and vote in the other party's immediate runoff election.<ref>Lyle C. Brown et al, ''Practicing Texas Politics'', 13th ed. (Houghton Mifflin, 2008), pp. 192–195.</ref>