Resurfaced Buttigieg yearbook named him ‘most likely to be president’

Before he was a presidential hopeful, South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) was considered a favorable candidate by his high school classmates.

A St. Joseph High School yearbook uncovered by ABC News on Saturday reveals that Buttigieg was voted in 2000 “most likely to become president.” 

Buttigieg, then a senior in high school, was also voted “most likely to succeed” and went on to become his class valedictorian.

{mosads}The news comes as Buttigieg, a virtually unknown candidate just two months ago, continues to rise in the polls and rake in strong fundraising hauls, surpassing more well-established politicians like Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.).

The Indiana Democrat, a millennial, openly gay Afghanistan War veteran and a former Rhodes Scholar, has cast himself as Trump’s opposite in a crowded primary already fielding more than 15 candidates.

Buttigieg has maintained high popularity in South Bend, where he was reelected in 2015 with over 80 percent of the vote. He went on to earn rave reviews with his CNN town hall performance last month and has caught the eye of many in Obama World.

He still faces an uphill battle for the Democratic presidential nomination as he goes up against well-known juggernauts like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and possibly former Vice President Joe Biden, who is expected to announce his presidential bid next week.