Kent Hehr defeats Joan Crockatt in Calgary Centre

It's a spot of red in the heart of a sea of blue, a hard fought victory the Liberals desperately wanted in Calgary Centre.

Kent Hehr, a popular former MLA,defeated the incumbent Conservative MPJoan Crockatt, who took the riding in a close byelection race in 2012.

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WhileCrockattwas far ahead early on, her share of the vote started to contract rapidly two hours after polls closed and she never recovered.

Echoing his Liberal colleagueDarshanKang, who capturedCalgarySkyview,Hehrsaid they made history on Monday.

"For this great city to have a Liberal go to Ottawa.I believe we have changed this city and Canada for the better,"he told a crowd of supporters in downtown Calgary.

"I will go to Ottawa to represent not only those who voted for me but people who cast a ballot for other parties."

Crockattto'enjoy a little time off'

Crockattsaid she's going to take a breather and "enjoy a little time off" before getting back to work.

"Ifundamentally do believe that the residents of CalgaryCentre are fundamentally conservativeand I believe this riding again will have a Conservative member of Parliament," she said while conceding defeat.

Home owners vs. renters

Calgary Centre is a diverse riding, encompassing wealthy suburbs and the dense, inner-cityBeltlinearea.

It'sunusual in that it is dominated by people who rent their homes in a city that, as a whole, has among the highest rates of home ownership in the country.

A 2011 National Household Survey found rentals outnumbered owned dwellings in Calgary Centre by a margin of 55.5 per cent to 44.4 per cent.

History

The riding boundaries have changed over time, with the original Calgary Centre riding created in the1960s.

The riding was significantlyredrawn and renamed Calgary South Centre in 2003before being renamedCalgary Centre in 2004.

In the early2000s, the seat was held by Progressive Conservative leader Joe Clark, before that party merged with the Canadian Alliance to form the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada in 2003.

Clark didn't join the new Conservative party and held the seat, effectively as an Independent, until the 2004 election, when he retired from politics.

Conservative Lee Richardson won the seat in 2004 and held it until 2012, when he quit to take a job working for then-premier Alison Redford.

2012 byelection

That triggered abyelection, which saw a tight three-way race between Crockatt, Liberal HarveyLocke, and star Green Party candidate Chris Turner, a well-known local author.

Crockattwon with 37 per cent of the vote, ahead ofLocke's33 per cent and Turner's 26 per cent.

Calgary Centre's boundaries changed again in the 2013 riding redistribution, losing some ground in the west and gaining some in in the east.

Calgary Centre is a multicultural and largely urban riding that includes the city's downtown core andBeltlinearea, in addition to communities likeRamsay, Mission andInglewood.

Its boundaries stretch from the Bow River in the north toGlenmoreTrail in the south, and from 37 Street S.W. in the west to the Bow River in the east.

Beyond Hehr and Crockatt, the candidates includedJillianRattifor the NDP,ThanaBoonlertfor the Greens and independent YogiHenderson.