William E. Baroni Jr. (born December 10, 1971) is an American Republican Party politician and law professor. He represented the 14th legislative district in the New Jersey Senate and General Assembly. In 2010, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie named Baroni to serve as the Deputy Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He resigned from his position at the Port Authority on December 12, 2013, during the inquiry into the Fort Lee lane closure controversy. Baroni was convicted on seven counts of conspiracy and wire fraud in relation to his involvement in the closure and sentenced to two years of imprisonment and 500 hours of community service, later reduced to 18 months. On May 7, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously reversed the conviction in Kelly v. United States. Early life Baroni was born in Jacksonville, Florida. He attended Steinert High School in Hamilton Township. He received a B.A. from George Washington University in history and was awarded a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. Political career Early career Baroni became interested in politics as a teenager, working on the 1988 campaign of his hometown US representative, Christopher H. Smith (R), who was seeking re-election to his fourth term. He was also a driver for Assembly Speaker Chuck Haytaian in his campaign for US Senator against Frank Lautenberg in 1994 and worked on the advance staff for the 1996 presidential campaign of Steve Forbes. In 1999, Baroni made his first campaign for public office, losing a race for Hamilton Township council. In 2000, Baroni was one of a small group of New Jersey Republicans who supported John McCain for president over George W. Bush. In 2001, Baroni was general counsel for congressman Bob Franks's gubernatorial campaign. In 2002, he led the Republican efforts to keep incumbent U.S. Senator Robert Torricelli's name on the ballot after Torricelli withdrew amid ethical problems. The efforts were ultimately unsuccessful. 2003 Assembly campaign In 2003, Baroni mounted an aggressive campaign for the General Assembly, knocking on over 10,000 doors to defeat the Democratic incumbent Gary Guear. Baroni's campaign got a boost when Guear accused Baroni of falsely claiming to be a native Hamiltonian. Baroni was born in Jacksonville, Florida before his adoption by the Baroni family in Hamilton, where he had lived ever since. The remark backfired as an attack on Baroni's adoption, and Guear's campaign never