MEDICINE HAT, Alta. — A large turnout for Justin Trudeau during an Alberta byelection campaign wasn’t enough of a push for the Liberals in the federal riding of Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner.

Conservative Glen Motz, a retired Medicine Hat police officer, cruised to an easy victory Monday night.

Motz won 69.9 per cent, or 23,932, of the 34,260 votes cast. As is often the case in a byelection, however, the voter turnout was low.

Only 44.54 per cent of eligible voters showed up to the polls.

Lib Stan Sakamoto just stopped in to CPC hq to concede and congratulate Glen Motz. And crowd applauds. So Canadian. pic.twitter.com/tsuhfzBKsZ — Scott Dippel (@CBCScott) October 25, 2016

The byelection was called after MP Jim Hillyer died of a heart attack earlier this year in his Parliament Hill office.

Hillyer won 68.8 per cent of the vote in the 2015 federal election.

The last MP Medicine Hat voters elected who wasn’t from a right-of-centre party was Bud Olson, who was originally voted in as a member of the Social Credit and crossed to the Liberals.

He was re-elected when the party swept to power under Pierre Trudeau in 1968, but Olson lost in 1972.

The prime minister attracted about 2,500 people when he visited the riding earlier this month in an effort to boost the chances of Liberal candidate Stan Sakamoto.

Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner was a new riding in the 2015 election — it was formerly Medicine Hat.

Motz said during the campaign that some people in the area had lost their hope and optimism based on the Liberal government’s rhetoric. Rather than job creation, he said there are increased taxes and the proposed carbon tax.

Sakamoto said during the campaign that the area had been a “forgotten corner” for decades and hoped to bring more employment.

With files from BJ Siekierski