CALGARY -- The federal Conservatives have a candidate in the vacant riding of Calgary Centre, former newspaper editor Joan Crockatt.

She beat out five others vying for the job in a hotly contested campaign hoping to replace former MP Lee Richardson, who left to work for Alberta Premier Alison Redford.

Conservative officials say they're not going to release the numbers of Saturday's vote.

Crockatt is a former managing editor of the Calgary Herald and also worked as a senior news¡pa¡per exec¡u¡tive with Southam News¡pa¡pers, and Canwest Global Com¡mu¡ni¡ca¡tions.

For the past decade she had been a com¡mu¡ni¡ca¡tions con¡sul¡tant and media commentator.

A date for a byelection in Calgary Centre has not been set.

Richardson, 64, announced in May he was resigning to become principal secretary for Redford.

He was first elected to the Commons in the riding of Calgary Southeast in 1988 with the government of Brian Mulroney. He was defeated by a Reform candidate in 1993.

He returned to the Commons in 2004, winning in Calgary Centre and was re-elected in 2006, 2008 and 2011.

Richardson once worked for former Alberta premier Lougheed and was a deputy chief of staff to Mulroney.

The riding encompasses Calgary's downtown core. A good portion of its 128,000 people are in the 20-40 age bracket.

Calgary can always be counted on by the Conservatives as a strong base of support and Calgary Centre is no exception.

Richardson took nearly 60 per cent of the vote in 2007. The Liberals were a distant second with only 17 per cent.

Former prime minister Joe Clark won the seat in the 2000 election.