Joan Crockatt wins Calgary Centre Conservative nomination

Joan Crockatt, the former managing editor of the Calgary Herald, won the Conservative Party's nomination in the Calgary Centre riding on Saturday night.

Crockatt won on the fourth ballot in a crowded field, which included six candidates. There was more than 900 ballots cast Saturday.

Crockatt told supporters the nomination victory was humbling, and heaped praise on her campaign team in a short speech after the win.

"If anybody thinks that grassroots democracy in Calgary Centre isn’t alive and well they only had to look at how this riding was won," she said.

"Because I think every single neighbourhood, almost every door in this entire riding was knocked on during this election campaign. That is a great thing for renewing our party. I think that is fantastic."

The seat opened up at the end of May when long-time Conservative MP Lee Richardson announced he was going to work for Alberta Premier Alison Redford.

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Crockatt defeated:

• Lawyer Richard (Rick) Billington
• Former alderman and PC MLA Jon Lord
• Financial expert Greg McLean
• Former mid-level PMO Quebec advisor Joseph Soares
• Richardson’s former campaign manager Stefan Spargo

McLean came in second, followed by Lord, Billington, Soares and Spargo.

Crockatt said her campaign team was organized very early on in the campaign. The former journalist said her focus is now on the byelection, which will take place before the end of the year.

"Some of us are newer than others, but the whole idea is that we want to move together as a whole and make sure that we win the byelection."

McLean stressed that it will be important to unify the party before the byelection.

"There's always strains in any kind of candidate selection, but those get healed over pretty quickly afterwards and this party will heal pretty quickly," McLean said.