text: 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 .