Contestants face off at one of the Iowa State Fair’s most popular contests: The husband calling contest
DES MOINES, Iowa —
One of the most popular contests at the Iowa State Fair has become the husband calling contest.
The 2026 contest winner is a lawyer who now lives in Texas, but she grew up in Iowa. LeAnn Hewitt joined sister station KCCI on stage Friday at the Iowa State Fair.
See that interview in the video above.
“This has been a goal of mine for 10 years: To get a blue ribbon at the fair,” Hewitt said.
She explained her technique before performing it again for KCCI: “This is what we call the back door holler.”
She admits that it is not a requirement of the contest to call your husband’s name. Hewitt could be heard screeching the name Henry during the contest.
However, she said her husband’s name is Rex.
“He told me not to call his name because it makes his skin crawl,” she said.
