The Quebec Liberal party has named its candidate for the upcoming by-election in the riding of Roberval.

William Laroche is going to run in the rural riding that was held by former premier Philippe Couillard, who stepped down following his party's defeat on Oct. 1.

Laroche, 27, is a city councillor and volunteer firefighter who was born and raised in the area. He has never before run in provincial politics.

Interim Liberal party leader Pierre Arcand said that believe Laroche's in-depth knowledge of the region will be an asset in his campaign.

"What we will tell the voters here in Roberval is that we need this riding. We want to become, once again, the party of the Quebec regions and it starts with the Saguenay Lac St. Jean region which is quite significant," said Arcand.

The Coalition Avenir Quebec's candidate is Nancy Guillemette, who was a city councillor in Roberval from 2008 until 2017 but currently serves as general manager of Mental Health Quebec/Lac St. Jean.

The previous candidate who ran against Couillard, Denise Trudel, won 24 percent of the vote on Oct. 1 but is not running again.

Voters will go to the polls on Dec. 10.