Gerson Camata

In 1967, Camata began his political career as a Vitória city alderman for the National Renewal Alliance (ARENA), the party of the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil at the time.^[1] He served on the city council from 1967 until 1970, when he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Espírito Santo as an ARENA state deputy.^[1]

In 1974, Camata was elected to the federal Chamber of Deputies as a member of ARENA. He won re-election to a second term in the Chamber of Deputies in 1978.^[1] In 1979, with the legalization of opposition parties, Camata left ARENA and joined the newly formed Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) in opposition to the government.^[1]

In 1982, Camata announced his candidacy for Governor of Espírito Santo. He won the 1982 Espírito Santo gubernatorial election with 67% of the vote, becoming the first person directly elected as Espírito Santo's governor during the transition to democracy.^[1] He served as governor from 1983 until 1986, when he resigned to run for the Federal Senate.^[1] His vice governor, José Moraes [pt], succeeded Camata as the new governor of Espírito Santo.^[1]

Camata was elected to his first term in the Federal Senate in the 1986 Brazilian legislative election. He won re-election to Senate in the 1994 and 2002 legislative elections.^[1] Camata served the Senate for twenty-four years (and three full terms) until his retirement in 2011.^[1] During his final term, Camata simultaneously served as the state Secretary of Development, Infrastructure and Transport under Governor Paulo Hartung, beginning in May 2006.^[1]

On December 26, 2018, Camata was gunned down by a former aide in the Praia do Canto [pt] neighborhood of Vitória, Espírito Santo. He was 77 years old. The shooting occurred outside a restaurant near the intersection of Chapot Presvot and Joaquim Lyrio streets.^[1] Camata was shot in the left shoulder. The bullet exited through his right shoulder, causing damage to his internal organs.^[1] He did not survive the attack and died at the age of 77.^[1][2][3]

Police captured the assailant, Marcos Vinícius Moreira Andrade, a former aide to Camata, just minutes after the attack.

Camata, a resident of the Ilha do Frade neighborhood of Vitória, was survived by his wife, Rita Camata, a former state and federal deputy, and their two children, Bruno and Enza Rafaela.^[1] Espírito Santo Governor Paulo Hartung declared seven days of mourning following Camata's murder.^[1]