It is springtime in California, and as they have been doing for years, the Winnebagos are lumbering back to Carmel-by-the-Sea. So are the sedans and station wagons, tour buses and minivans, disgorging hordes of tourists to take in the jade-tinted surf and the sweeping Monterey cypress trees. But a new attraction is luring the curious to this tidy village that clings to a slope above Monterey Bay, some 120 miles down the coast from San Francisco, one far more riveting than the scenery. The big draw is, of all things, a municipal election.
Next week the 4,142 voters of Carmel will...