Pringey homesteaded a farm near Chandler when the Sac and Fox lands were opened for settlement in 1891. He was also involved in a loan and insurance business. A Republican, he became a member of the Oklahoma Territorial Senate in 1893. He served as member of the board of regents of the
University of Oklahoma at Norman in 1893 and 1894, and as delegate to the
Republican National Convention in 1900.
County clerk of
Lincoln County, Oklahoma from 1912 to 1920. During World War I Pringey served on the Oklahoma Council of Defense and was a four-minute-man speaker. Elected as a
Republican to the
67th Congress, he served from March 4, 1921 to March 3, 1923. While in Congress, he served on three committees, Expenditures in the Department of Labor, Pensions, and Public Buildings and Grounds. Sometimes called "Uncle Joe," he advocated compensation for soldiers who had served in World War I and called for a tariff to protect the farmer and laborer. An unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1922 to the
68th Congress, Pringey became Acting postmaster of
Chandler, Oklahoma, in 1923 and 1924. He also resumed his agricultural pursuits. ==Death==