As they look to keep the pressure on Rep. Vic Snyder (D) in Arkansas’ 2nd district, the National Republican Congressional Committee announced Wednesday that Little Rock attorney Tim Griffin (R) has impressed party officials enough with his early efforts to be bumped up to the next rung of the committee’s 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 Griffin only ten other Republican recruits have achieved Contender status.

Griffin raised eyebrows in the campaign world when he raked in $130,000 for his campaign in less than two weeks before the Sept. 30 Federal Election Commission filing deadline. One GOP source said Wednesday that Griffin’s fourth quarter haul was nearly double his third quarter total.

Meanwhile, Snyder, a seven term Congressman who the NRCC targeted early in the 2010 cycle, is one Member who doesn’t raise money in the off-year for his re-election effort.

“Tim Griffin 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 to put this seat back in the Republican column,” NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas) said Wednesday. “Tim is part of a strong and growing candidate pool of everyday Americans who are frustrated with the majority’s big-government ways and aren’t willing to stand idly by any longer.”