MILWAUKEE — In 2016, Washington's delegation to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland got a spike of media attention thanks to foam evergreen tree-shaped hats.
They were Washington's answer to the Wisconsin delegation's cheese heads, or Texas's cowboy hats.
This year, returning to the first in-person GOP convention since then, Washington delegates are noticeably missing the foamy head appendages.
Some have wondered, what happened? Many others have not wondered at all.
Nevertheless, a five-minute investigation by The Seattle Times can reveal: state GOP Chair Jim Walsh nixed the goofy lids.
"I don't like the hats," he said Wednesday.
"While some may miss this particular item, it will not be making a comeback this year," Walsh added in a newspaper-style printed newsletter, "The Washington Gazette" which was distributed to state delegates.
Instead, Walsh wrote, delegates would be given a variety of Washington state themed pins they can swap with other states' delegates "fostering a sense of camaraderie and connection."
Former state GOP Chair Susan Hutchison, who is attending the Milwaukee convention this year as an alternate delegate, said: "We are a patchwork quilt of opinions in the Republican Party, and I love the tree hats, and Jim doesn't."
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