Washington ? In the eyes of black voters, Hillary Clinton has a slight edge over Barack Obama, her closest rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, according to a survey released Tuesday.

“African-American voters are really only looking at two candidates,” said David Bositis, a senior analyst at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a think tank focused on African-American affairs that released the poll. “There is Hillary Clinton and there is Barack Obama. Really none of the other candidates exist in the realm that Clinton and Obama occupy.”

The New York senator was viewed favorably by 83 percent of black voters, compared to Obama’s 74 percent. About 10 percent of those surveyed viewed Clinton and Obama negatively. The national survey, conducted between Oct. 5 and Nov. 2, asked 750 African-Americans who were likely to vote in primaries or attend caucuses about the presidential candidates and related issues.

Although some people were surveyed more than a month ago, and the two campaigns have exchanged heated criticism in recent weeks, Bositis said the results are still reliable. “We’re not asking them how they’re going to vote,” he said. “We’re asking them what are more stable feelings they have toward issues and candidates.”

In the survey, there was a small gender gap as African-American women chose Clinton as their clear favorite with favorable ratings of 86 percent. In the 2004 presidential election, almost 60 percent of all black voters were women, according to the Census Bureau.

One reason for Clinton’s edge may come from her name recognition, Bositis said, pointing to the publicity she has received as first lady and a senator during the last 15 years.

Cornell Belcher, a pollster for Obama’s campaign, agreed that name recognition was the likely explanation. “It’s a favorable rating, which is really more of an ID rating than anything else.”

Bositis said another possible reason for Clinton’s lead in the poll was the economic success African-Americans experienced during her husband’s time in the White House. During President Bill Clinton’s second term, the black population’s annual median household income increased by $5,000, according to the bureau.

Clinton’s high ratings also might stem from electability issues; some people may doubt an African-American can win the presidency. “There are many blacks in the South who really as of yet do not believe an African-American is going to be elected president,” Bositis said, referring to the Illinois senator.

But some argue that blacks are no longer skeptical of electing the first black president.