Original: During Alito's Senate confirmation hearings, his wife, Martha Ann Alito, broke into tears after Republicans expressed their disapproval of how Alito was being characterized by some Democrats on the panel.
Simplified: The vote by the U.S. Senate to make Alito a judge was one of the closest in U.S. History, because many Democrats did not want five Republicans on the court. Alito is from Trenton, New Jersey.