Mr. Chatfield has also not acknowledged Mr. Biden’s victory, though he has expressed a commitment to heeding the results of the popular vote. “Nothing is more important than integrity in our election system,” he wrote in a tweet on Nov. 6. “Every single legal vote needs to be counted. Because this is America and that’s what we do! And let me be very clear: whoever gets the most votes will win Michigan! Period. End of story. Then we move on.”
Both Mr. Shirkey and Mr. Chatfield declined to comment. Their aides said that they were under strict orders from the White House not to speak to the press.
However, in a tweet on Friday, Mr. Chatfield wrote, “No matter the party, when you have an opportunity to meet with the President of the United States, of course you take it. I won’t apologize for that. In fact, I’m honored to speak with POTUS and proud to meet with him. And I look forward to our conversation.”
The two men have solid pro-Trump conservative records, though they come from different corners of the Republican Party.
Mr. Shirkey, 65, is a businessman who worked for General Motors for 13 years before starting his own manufacturing company near his hometown, Clarklake, west of Detroit. He has served six years in the State Senate after serving four years in the State House.
Mr. Chatfield, 32, was raised by a Baptist minister, attended a Christian college and received a master’s degree in public policy from Liberty University, the evangelical Christian university in Lynchburg, Va., founded by Jerry Falwell. He later returned to his hometown, Levering, in northern Michigan, where he taught at a private Christian high school before winning election to the State House in 2014.
Though both expressed strong support for the president during the campaign, Mr. Chatfield was a more visible surrogate, appearing at several campaign rallies, including one in October in Muskegon, where he warmed up the crowd before the president arrived.
