John Kitzhaber insisted on Wednesday that he would not resign as Oregon governor. The Democrat said that though he is "getting a lot of pressure from many quarters," influence-peddling allegations against the him and his fiancee would not force him to step down.

"Let me be as clear as I was last week that I have no intention of resigning as governor of the state of Oregon," Kitzhaber said, Portland NBC affiliate KGW-TV reported. "I was elected to do a job for the people of this great state, and I intend to continue to do so."

Newspapers in the Beaver State have called on Kitzhaber to call it quits over accusations that Cylvia Hayes, his fiancee, used the governor's office to land contracts for her consulting business. An ethics review of the suspected wrongdoing was suspended as Oregon's state attorney general launched a criminal investigation.

Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum has called the allegations "very serious" and "troubling," Fox News said.

Emails released to the Oregonian, the state's largest newspaper, seem to indicate that Hayes instructed state officials to help implement a policy known as the "genuine progress indicator" -- a GDP alternative -- which she was being paid to promote. The messages were made public by the state's Department of Administrative Services.

Speculations about Kitzhaber's possible resignation had been ripe Wednesday morning when Secretary of State Kate Brown abruptly left a conference in Washington to make an unscheduled return, KGW-TV noted. Oregon is among seven U.S. states that lack the office of lieutenant governor, and Brown would succeed Kitzhaber if the latter were to step down. The governor, however, told the NBC affiliate that he merely asked Brown to return so he could tell her about his decision to stay in office.

Kitzhaber seems to have changed his mind after originally intending to resign. The Democrat informed some of his aides on Sunday that he was stepping down, the Associated Press said. What prompted the governor to reverse his decision, meanwhile, remains unclear, according to Fox News.