Amid some speculation in Tennessee Republican circles that farmer and gospel singer Stephen Fincher will get a primary challenge in the race to replace retiring Rep. John Tanner (D), the National Republican Congressional Committee gave their recruit a vote of confidence Thursday morning.

Fincher has impressed the committee enough with his early campaign efforts to be bumped up to the next rung of the NRCC recently retooled “Young Guns” campaign program.

Young Guns is a fundraising and infrastructure system that was created last cycle that ranks candidates on three tiers: “On the Radar,” “Contender” and “Young Guns.” No candidate has yet achieved the program’s highest ranking. Besides Fincher only nine other Republican recruits have achieved Contender status.

“Stephen Fincher has already proven that he will be a formidable candidate by meeting the Young Guns program’s rigorous goals and is well on his way to building a winning campaign and putting this seat back in the Republican column,” said NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas) in a release. “His campaign has put Democrats on notice that Americans are ready to turn the page on the failed experiment known as the Obama-Pelosi agenda.”