QUEBEC CITY — There's another election on the horizon, and it promises to be a close race.

A provincial by-election will be held in Quebec City riding of Jean-Talon on Dec. 2, when the Liberals hope to hang on to the seat.

The by-election in the riding was triggered by the resignation of Sebastien Proulx in August.

The riding hasn't wavered from the Liberals since its inception in 1966, and the party is banking on star candidate Gertrude Bourdon.

Bourdon suffered an embarrassing defeat in the 2018 general election: tagged as the would-be health minister, she finished third in the nearby Jean-Lesage riding behind Quebec solidaire's Sol Zanetti and the CAQ's Christine Gamache.

Now she's trying again.

"I changed. I learned from a moment that was extraordinarily difficult," she said.

Jean-Talon is the only Liberal foothold left in Quebec City – without that seat, the Liberals are relegated to only the Island of Montreal and the Outaouais region. 

Home to Laval University, the riding is largely composed of students and hospital employees. In the previous election, the Liberals won by fewer than 2,000 votes.

With the CAQ still popular, Premier Francois Legault is trying to frame the by-election in Jean-Talon as a vote for the secularism law. 

Not so, say his opponents. 

"Now he's saying the by-election in Jean-Talon is about Bill 21. I think he needs to change his tune because this is not right now the priority," said interim Liberal leader Pierre Arcand. 

The CAQ's candidate Joelle Boutin agrees with Arcand's take.

"Personally I don't think it's going to be a big issue in Jean-Talon," she said while campaigning and Saint-Lawrence College, a campus of Champlain Regional College. 

Boutin is promising better access to elected officials if the seat lands in CAQ hands.

"It's always been red, so it would be a first. It would be a historical win," she said. 

Quebec solidaire is also in contention, trying to get its third seat in Quebec City. 

"I think it's totally normal that Mr. Legault identifies the issue of religious symbols as the ballot box question for the Jean-Talon by-election because it's the only issue where he has a different position as the PLQ," said Quebec solidaire spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.