Emidio Pereira de Souza (May 22, 1959), better known as Emidio de Souza, is a Brazilian lawyer and politician affiliated with the Workers’ Party (PT). He served two terms as mayor of Osasco and is currently serving his third term as a state deputy for São Paulo.
Biography
The son of migrants from the Northeast Region, Emídio was born in the town of Inúbia Paulista, in the interior of São Paulo. At the age of 13, he moved to Osasco, where he began working as a metalworker. Within the popular movements of the Catholic Church, commonly referred to as Liberation Theology, he became involved in the labor movement. With the rise of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva within the labor movement, Emídio began to actively participate in the labor movement, where he helped found the Workers’ Party (PT) and the Central Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT).
In the , he ran for city council as a candidate for the PT. He was elected and served in the seventh term of the Osasco City Council, where he remained until 1992. In the , he was re-elected to the position and served his second term as a city council member in Osasco. In , he ran for his third term and was elected after receiving just over 2,000 votes, becoming one of the three council members elected from the PT.
In , he was the PT's candidate for mayor of Osasco. Emídio was defeated in the first round by (PTB) by a margin of 12,000 votes. Following his defeat, he ran for the office of State Deputy of São Paulo in and was elected after receiving more than 100,000 votes. In , he ran again for mayor of Osasco, defeating (PSDB) in the runoff election, surpassing the 200,000-vote mark, beating Giglio by just over 20,000 votes. He ran for reelection in , defeating two former mayors of the city, (PSDB) and Francisco Rossi (PMDB), in the first round.
In 2013, Emidio was elected State Chairman of the Workers’ Party in São Paulo, leading the party in the state until May 2017. After serving as head of the São Paulo chapter, he took on another role within the party's leadership, joining the PT's National Secretariat for Finance and Planning, a position he held until February 2020.
In 2018, he ran for the office of state deputy in São Paulo and was elected to his second term in the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo (Alesp). During Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's detention, he served as Lula's attorney while he was in custody in Curitiba, visiting him daily and participating in negotiations with the Federal Police (PF). In , he ran for a third term as mayor of Osasco. Although he had already served two terms as mayor of the city, he finished in third place in an election won by (PODE).
In 2022, he ran again for state representative in São Paulo and was elected to a third term after receiving more than 150,000 votes. He ran for mayor of Osasco again in . By a margin of more than 225,000 votes, he was defeated in the first round by Gerson Pessoa (PODE). In the 2026 São Paulo state election, he was responsible for coordinating Fernando Haddad's campaign for governor, as well as overseeing the government's policy platform. In 2026, he ran again for the office of state representative in São Paulo. After receiving more than 100,000 votes, he was elected to his fourth term in the Alesp.
Electoral performance +YearPositionPartyVotesResultRef.Osasco City Council MemberPT1,8432 2692,626Mayor of Osasco158,902State deputy of São Paulo102,331Mayor or Osasco179,206Mayor or Osasco204,3562018State deputy of São Paulo65,898Mayor or Osasco44,8492022State deputy of São Paulo157,834Mayor or Osasco57,2452026State deputy of São Paulo108,527
Personal life Emídio is Catholic. He was married to Márcia Abreu, with whom he had four children; she served as first lady of Osasco during Emídio's two terms as mayor of Osasco. The couple got divorced.
Emidio de Souza is married to Gabriela Araújo since 2014, a desembargadora and former CNN Brasil commentator. The couple has a daughter. Both are personal friends of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
References