Two provincial party leaders are set to face-off in the race to secure the seat left vacant by the resignation of long-serving MLA Dave Rodney.

On Friday, David Khan, the leader of the Alberta Liberal Party, was selected as his party’s candidate for the December 14 byelection in Calgary-Lougheed.

"I 'm looking forward to meeting with constituents in Calgary-Lougheed and hearing about  their concerns," said Khan.

Khan will appear on the byelection ballot alongside the names of United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney and NDP candidate Dr. Phillip van der Merwe. The Alberta Party has yet to announce a byelection candidate.

“I’m under no illusion that this isn’t a big battle,” said Khan. “It’s going to be a hard fight but I think it’s really important that we provide leadership and show and contrast our policies with those of Jason Kenney.”

“The best way we can do that is to go straight to the fight with him and I’m not afraid to do that.”

Calgary-Lougheed has been a conservative stronghold since its creation in 1993 as voters selected the Progressive Conservative candidate in the last seven general elections.