Bill Hagerty, commissioner of economic and community development for Tennessee

NASHVILLE - Tennessee Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bill Hagerty is taking a temporary leave of absence to volunteer for Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's "readiness team."

Claude Ramsey, deputy to Gov. Bill Haslam and a former mayor of Hamilton County, will assume oversight of the department during Hagerty's leave of absence, the governor said.

Hagerty, a longtime Romney supporter who worked with the candidate at Bain Capital, will take unpaid leave beginning next Monday through Nov. 6.