Folks, when we email you, we try to avoid sounding the alarm unless something really, really serious just happened.

This is serious:

The NRCC only grants this status to challengers who pose a real threat -- it’s their most powerful signal to national Republican donors that this is a district they can win if they invest enough.

We’ve been fighting off the $1 million in dark money that national Republicans have already spent in our district -- but we need your help to prepare for this new onslaught. Will you chip in to our emergency $4,500 goal and keep this district blue?

“Young Guns” are no joke. The NRCC runs an extremely competitive program, reserving the status only for their rising stars.

“Young Gun” status means that the challenger is running a campaign with strong enough fundraising and organizing skills to help Republicans take back the House. It’s effective -- earlier this year, a “Young Gun” pulled off a win in a special election in the deep-blue state of California, costing Democrats a crucial House seat.

Now that Eric Esshaki has reached this level, national Republicans will do everything in their power to help him defeat Haley. We can’t do this alone -- chip in now to help us fight back against this “Young Gun” and protect this critical swing seat >>

-- Team Haley