HARRISBURG — Races for state treasurer, the Legislature and Congress could be reshaped by dozens of challenges filed Thursday and aimed at having candidates knocked off the April 22 primary ballot.

Roughly 60 ballot challenges were received in Commonwealth Court before the 5 p.m. deadline, and among the targets were two of the four Democrats competing for state treasurer.

Dennis Morrison-Wesley and state Rep. Jennifer Mann, D-Lehigh, were accused of lacking at least 100 signatures from five different counties. If they are ruled ineligible, it would narrow the field to John F. Cordisco and Rob McCord, whose campaign manager, John D. Lisko, filed both challenges.

"It's what you characterize as garden-variety challenges — people not registered, people who are registered in the wrong party," said Gregory Harvey, Lisko's lawyer. Harvey also cited instances in which "somebody else added the address, the municipality and the date of signing" to a voter's signature.

Paul Gage, Mann's campaign manager, said he was confident that the signatures will withstand scrutiny.

"They don't want Jen Mann in this race because they realize she's a formidable candidate," he said.

An aide to Morrison-Wesley said someone with the campaign would issue a comment on the challenge later.

Harvey also handled a challenge filed against the candidacy of William M. Russell, the lone Republican seeking to unseat longtime U.S. Rep. John Murtha. Murtha has no opponent in the Democratic primary.

A challenge was also filed against Joseph V. Montone, who is running in the Republican primary for a seat currently held by U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Murphy, D-Pa.

There also were petition challenges to at least five incumbent state lawmakers: Rep. Frank Andrews Shimkus, D-Lackawanna; Rep. Mauree A. Gingrich, R-Lebanon; Rep. Harold James, D-Philadelphia; Rep. Thomas W. Blackwell IV, D-Philadelphia; and Rep. Tony Payton Jr., D-Philadelphia.

The challenge to Blackwell asserted that only 121 of his 756 signatures are valid, and that the petition had "full pages replete with names listed in order of address, not missing a single Democratic voter — and each in the same handwriting."

Blackwell said he was not concerned.