Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna is preparing for a potentially prolonged ballot count.

McKenna spokesman Charles McCray said Thursday that the campaign's field staff has shifted its focus to about 16,000 challenged ballots around the state. Aides are working to notify people whose ballots have been challenged, often due to mismatched signatures. His campaign also has attorneys in every county that are prepared to deal with any issues that arise.

McKenna trails Democrat Jay Inslee by nearly 50,000 votes, but election officials say hundreds of thousands of ballots are left to count. The Republican believes later ballots will break in his direction.

Inslee has said he's confident his lead will hold and has started preparing a team to help him transition into office in January.