Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, any candidate who has a previous campaign account with an outstanding balance and who chooses to apply contributions to that previous campaign account, shall not exceed the campaign contribution limits in part 3 of this chapter, for the election cycle during which the candidate accepts the contribution, regardless of whether such candidate applies the amount to the previous campaign account or to the current campaign account. Under no circumstances shall the candidate exceed the contribution limits for the election cycle to which the previous campaign account with an outstanding balance applies.